iEx  Safaris 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


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http://archive.org/details/gothamsgreaterroOOswee 


L.  E  I  D  L  I  T  Z, 
128  BROADWAY, 


New  York. 


Gotham's  Greater  Rotten  Row. 


PETER   B.  SWEENY'S  PROJECT 


A  Splendid  Public  Pleasure  Ground  for  Lovers  of 
the  Horse  and  the  Horse  Himself. 


A  GRAND  TERRACE  ON  THE  WEST  SIDE. 


Two  and  One- Half  Miles   of  Magnificent  Driveway 
Along  the  Shore  of  the  Hudson,  between  Seventy- 
second  and  Ninety-eighth  Streets,  West  of 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad 
and  Riverside  Park, 

WITH  THE 

REASONS  THAT  MAKE  THE  SCHEME  FEASIBLE  IN  THE  NEAR  FUTURE. 


INTERVIEWS  WITH 

Messrs.  Coleman,  President  of  the  Board  of  Taxes  and  Assessments,  Lawson 
N.  Fuller,  Comptroller  Myers,  Commissioner  Post,  Commissioner 
Gilroy,  W.  E.  D.  Stokes,  Russell  Sage,  Mayor  Grant, 
Nathan  Straus,  John  H.  Starin,  Collector  Er- 
hardt,  George  S.  Lespinasse,  Robert 
Bonner,  Leopold  Eidlitz  and 
Peter  B.  Sweeny. 


PREAMBLE  AND  RESOLUTION  OF  THE 

BOARD  OF  ESTIMATE  AND  APPORTIONMENT. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  CITY. 


published  by 
The  Municipal  Improvement  Association. 


1  890. 
i 


Press  of  John  Polhemu 
102  Nassau  Street, 
New  York. 


EDITORIAL 


FROM 

The  New  York  Herald, 

OF 

AUGUST  3,  1S90. 


f\  I^ott^p  I^ou/  for  |\Ieu/  Yor% 


On  another  page  of  to-day's  Herald  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny  ex- 
plains the  details  of  a  project  which  he  considers  entirely  feasi- 
ble and  which  is  certainly  fascinating.  It  has  only  to  be  carried 
out  to  give  this  metropolis  one  of  the  finest,  most  picturesque 
pleasure  grounds  in  the  world — a  promenade  for  drives  and 
equestrians  that  will  be  to  New  York  what  Rotten  Row  is  to 
London. 

This  is  a  grand  terrace  stretching  along  the  Hudson  from  ?2d 
to  98th  street,  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  which  would 
afford  a  round  course  of  two  and  a  half  miles,  with  commodious 
thoroughfares  for  pleasure  seekers  in  vehicles,  in  the  saddle  and 
on  foot. 

Driving  is  steadily  on  the  increase  in  the  metropolis,  and 
horseback  riding  is  rapidly  growing  in  popularity.  Existing 
driveways  do  not  satisfy  the  public  wants,  while  the  bridle  paths 
in  Central  Park  are  wholly  inadequate  to  the  growing  demands 
made  upon  them. 

That  more  public  facilities  of  this  kind  are  needed  is  obvious. 
This  fact  will  lend  a  timely  interest  to  the  project  outlined  in 
the  Herald  this  morning. 

3 


CONTENTS. 


Robert  Bonner,  Interview, 

Michael  Coleman,  Prest.  Dept.  of  Taxes,  Report, 

Interview, 
Preamble  and  Resolution, 
Leopold  Eidlitz,  Report, 

Interview, 

Joel  B.  Eriiardt,  Collector  of  the  Port, 

Lawson  N.  Fuller,  

Thomas  F.  Gilroy,  Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  " 
Hugh  J.  Grant,  Mayoi\  .... 
Proclamation,  appointing  Commissioners  to  examine  and 

report  upon  plan, 
George  S.  Lespinasse,       ....  Interview, 
Theodore  W.  Myers,  Comptroller,  . 
Edwin  A.  Post,  Prest.  Dept.  of  Docks, 
Russell  Sage. 
John  H.  Starin,  . 


W.  E.  D.  Stokes,  . 
Nathan  Straus,  . 
Peter  B.  Sweeny, 


Letter, 
Interview, 


57  to  60 
30  to  33 
39  and  40 
64  to  66 
21  to  26 
63  and  64 
50 

33  to  35 
38  and  39 
44  to  47 

68  and  69 
52  and  53 
37  and  38 
38 

42  and  48 
50 

41  and  42 
49 

5  to  21 
54  to  56 
61  to  63 
66  and  67 
70  to  80 


(New  York  Herald.  August  3,  1890.) 

GOTHAM'S  GREATER  ROTTEN  ROW. 


Peter  B.  Sweeny's  Project  for  a  Splendid  Public  Pleasure 
Ground  for  Lovers  of  the  Horse  and  the  Horse  Him- 
self— A  Grand  Terrace  on  the  West  Side — Two  and 
One-Half  Miles  of  Magnificent  Driveway  along  the 
Shore  of  the  Hudson,  between  Seventy-second  and 
Ninety-eighth  Streets,  West  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral Railroad  and  Riverside  Park,  with  the  Reasons 
that  make  the  scheme  feasible  in  the  near  future. 


ENGINEER  EIDLITZ'S  VIEWS. 


66  By  lier  geographical  position,  by  the  enterprise  and  courage  of 
her  people,  by  the  splendor  of  her  endowments,  with  the  sea  at  her 
feet,  and  the  resources  of  mighty  commonwealths  drawn  in  iron 
bands  to  her  doors;  by  her  supreme  energy  and  sagacity,  this 
beautiful,  noble  Manhattan,  this  queen  of  cities,  is  an  example 
of  what  freedom  can  do  in  the  formation  of  a  metropolis.  History 
gives  no  such  illustration  of  commercial  success  as  the  building  of 
New  York  during  the  last  century  ."—From  a  Herald  Editorial. 


Once  more  the  spirit  of  Public  Improvement,  under  whose  be- 
nignly potent  spell  the  metropolis  of  the  Western  World  has 
grown  to  strength  and  beauty  among  the  cities  of  the  nations, 
has  been  invoked  to  work  a  new  wonder  for  the  welfare  and 
pleasure  of  her  people. 

Peter  B.  Sweeny  is  the  magician  who  has  summoned  the  mighty 
spirit  for  this  latest  benefit,  and  under  his  leadership  a  project 
which  will  give  New  York  a  grander  promenade  for  horseback 
and  carriage  riders  than  Rotten  Row,  the  famous  London  con- 
course, is  about  to  take  definite  shape. 

This  idea  is  one  which  Mr.  Sweeny  has  cherished  long  and 
earnesthT,  and  to  which  he  has  devoted  much  study  and  investi- 
gation. 


6 


Now  that  his  plans  are  almost  matured,  and  with  proper  public 
support,  the  splendid  scheme  can  be  realized  within  the  next  few 
years. 

ALONG  THE  NORTH  RIVER. 

The  site  for  the  great  public  drive  or  terrace  is  the  picturesque 
strip  of  river  front  along  the  Hudson,  west  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral Railroad  and  Riverside  Park,  between  Seventy-second  and 
Ninety-eighth  streets. 

This  territory,  most  of  it  unimproved  at  present  and  some 
that  must  be  filled  in  before  it  would  meet  the  requirements  of 
Mr.  Sweeny's  scheme,  is  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  length  and  from 
three  hundred  to  four  hundred  feet  wide.  When  built  up  as 
intended  it  would  make  a  magnificent  terrace,  with  a  driveway 
in  each  direction,  giving  two  and  one-half  miles  of  the  finest 
equestrian  promenade  in  existence. 

There  seems  to  be  no  obstacle  to  the  speedy  development  of 
this  important  public  enterprise,  but  of  that  Mr.  Sweeny  gives 
a  better  idea  in  his  own  words. 

I  found  him  at  home  the  other  day,  just  after  his  return  from 
Lake  Mahopac,  and  asked  him  to  give  the  Herald  the  details  of 
his  project.  His  room  was  littered  with  books  and  papers  and 
he  was  making  preparations  to  open  his  new  law  offices  in  the 
Equitable  Building. 

Mr.  Sweeny  declared  that  he  had  not  intended  to  make  public 
his  plans  until  Fall,  when  more  people,  having  returned  from 
their  vacations,  would  be  in  the  city;  but  as  the  Herald  was  read 
by  everybody,  at  home  and  abroad,  he  was  willing  to  disseminate 
his  views  through  such  a  far  reaching  medium. 

"Here,"  said  he,  taking  a  printed  slip  from  his  pocket,  "are 
a  few  sentences  from  a  recent  masterly  editorial  in  the  Herald 
which  would  make  a  good  text  for  the  head  of  your  article.  They 
tell  the  story  of  this  city's  power  and  position  as  tersely,  yet  elo- 
quently, as  it  was  ever  told." 

The  extract  is  reproduced  above.  I  asked  several  questions  as 
to  the  general  outlines  of  the  project  before  Mr.  Sweeny  began 
to  talk  freely,  but  once  warmed  up  on  the  subject  he  went  into 
details  enthusiastically. 

WASTED  OPPORTUNITY. 

"Any  one,"  he  began,  "who  will  take  the  trouble  to  walk 
down  to  the  foot  of  Seventy-second  street,  on  the  North  River, 


7 


my  point  of  departure,  and  examine  the  water  front,  north  and 
south,  will  receive  an  easy  and  useful  object  lesson.  He  will  be 
struck  by  the  difference  here  shown  between  what  may  be  called 
private  and  public  ownership.  On  the  one  side  appreciation, 
enterprise  and  profitable  development  :  on  the  other  neglect, 
wasted  opportunity  and  perpetuated  loss. 

"  The  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  Compan}',  owning 
the  water  front  and  water  privileges  adjoining  Seventy-second 
street,  at  the  south,  have  filled  in  the  water  and  made  a  block  of 
land  of  the  utmost  value  for  their  purposes.  This  made  land 
extends  some  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beyond  the  railroad 
tracks.  Here  have  been  erected  a  dock  and  extensive  buildings 
used  for  depot  and  mechanical  purposes. 

"  Immediately  north  of  this  the  opportunity  to  reclaim  the 
land  and  devote  it  to  some  useful  purpose  is  wholly  lost  sight  of. 
There  is  a  great  tract  of  land  as  idle  as  if  the  locality  were  the 
North  Pole  or  Greenland's  icy  shores. 

"  This  is  more  or  less  the  case  all  along  the  river  front  north. 
The  land  is  unimproved  except  for  about  four  blocks,  commenc- 
ing at  Seventy-fourth  street,  where  piles  have  been  driven,  a 
wooden  block  built  and  the  water  front  filled  in  for  some  three 
hundred  feet  out  from  the  railroad  tracks,  except  also  docks 
built  at  Seventy-ninth  and  Ninety-sixth  streets,  and  here  and 
there  little  patches  of  made  land  for  sailboat  houses. 

"It  is  this  line  of  neglected  and  deserted  land  under  water,  at 
least  so  much  of  it  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  purpose,  that  I 
propose  to  devote  to  one  of  the  most  desirable  and  valuable  public 
improvements  ever  made  on  this  island  since  the  establishment 
of  Central  Park. 

"  At  the  space  filled  in,  about  Seventy-sixth  street,  there  has 
sprung  up,  almost  over  night,  like  a  toadstool  emanation,  a  brick 
building,  bearing  in  many  forms  the  familiar  device,  "Lager 
Beer  Saloon."  It  stands  gaunt  and  alone  on  the  river  front,  as  a 
staring  monument  and  warning  of  what  may  be  expected  to  be 
the  fatal  fungous  growth  of  this  region. 

THE  CITY'S  RIGHTS. 

"  Along  this  water  front  the  city  holds  by  grant  from  the  State 
400  feet  outside  of  high  water  mark.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
water  right  remains  in  the  city,  except  in  certain  cases,  not  many, 


8 


in  which  water  grants  have  been  made.  But,  on  the  whole,  the 
coast  is  clear. 

"On  consulting  the  scientific  map  of  the  city  I  discover  that 
the  bulkhead  line  as  established  by  the  Harbor  Commissioners 
was  440  feet  beyond  the  original  shore  line  at  Seventy-second 
street — that  is,  the  point  to  which  filling  in  could  be  carried. 
This  limitation  was  fixed  chiefly  to  prevent  material  from  being 
carried  down  by  the  tide  to  choke  up  the  harbor  and  to  prevent 
undue  narrowing  of  the  channel." 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  SCHEME. 


FOR  A  GREAT  PLEASURE  GROUND  OF  THE  PEOPLE  BOTH  RIDING 

AND  ON  FOOT. 

Having  thus  explained  the  lay  of  the  land  and  the  status  of 
affairs  from  the  official  standpoint,  Mr.  Sweeny  proceeded  in 
response  to  my  questions  to  give  an  idea  of  the  purposes  to  which 
the  proposed  terrace  would  be  devoted. 

"  My  plan,"  he  went  on,  "  is  to  construct  west  of  the  limits  of 
Riverside  Park,  on  an  elevated  or  terraced  space,  an  avenue  for 
fast  driving  of  sufficient  width  to  admit  of  its  being  divided  so  as 
to  allow  driving  in  different  directions,  with  turnouts  and  con- 
nections, by  which  any  one  can  change  his  route,  from  Seventy- 
second  street  to  Ninety-eighth  street,  one  mile  and  a  quarter  each 
way — in  effect,  therefore,  two  miles  and  a  half — of  the  best 
grade  and  the  most  perfect  roadway. 

"  Adjoining  this  drive  it  is  proposed  to  have  a  shaded  avenue 
for  pedestrians  and  on  the  other  side  a  broad  course  for  lady  and 
gentlemen  riders,  similar  to  Rotten  Row  in  London  but  vastly 
superior. 

"The  narrow  winding  alleys  of  Central  Park,  constructed 
thirty  years  ago,  when  there  were  not  over  fifty  horseback  riders 
in  the  whole  city,  have  proved  not  only  inadequate  but  danger- 
ous, and  there  has  been  no  equestrian  promenade  of  the  character 
I  propose.  This  ride  along  the  river  front  on  an  elevated  course, 
with  broad,  open  views  of  captivating  scenery,  and  in  an  air 
charged  with  ozone  and  saline  invigoration,  will  be  an  exhilarating, 
health  giving  exercise  not  to  be  excelled. 


9 


A  GREATER  ROTTEN  ROW. 

"  Then  the  opportunity  for  meeting  in  general  concourse  and 
for  graceful  and  spirited  display  would  add  to  the  interest  and 
pleasure  in  no  small  degree.  Of  Rotten  Row,  it  is  said,  that  the 
statesman,  the  great  lawyer,  the  surgeon  of  European  reputation, 
the  capitalist  on  whose  signature  miles  of  railroad  and  acres  of 
docks  all  over  the  world  are  constructed — the  journalist,  whose 
brains  are  to  him  both  capital  and  power — all  the  hard  workers 
whose  means  permit  and  tastes  allow,  all  the  army  of  pleasure 
seekers  who  work  hard  at  amusement,  all  the  gatherers  and  dis- 
tributors of  wealth,  find  in  a  perfect  horse  here  a  luxury,  a  rest, 
a  healthy  excitement,  a  pleasant  fatigue,  a  medium  for  grave 
or  serious  converse,  for  lively  gossip,  for  making  love,  for  making 
friends,  for  patching  up  quarrels,  for  selling  bargains  or  arrang- 
ing political  combinations. 

"Claremont  furnishes  the  fitting  and  attractive  object  point 
for  rest  and  refreshment  on  the  route  I  propose.  The  terrace 
would  be  joined  with  Riverside  Park,  at  suitable  points,  by  inex- 
pensive bridges.  The  connection  at  the  southern  end  with 
Seventy-second  street,  and  at  the  northern  with  110th  street, 
practically  makes  the  Central  Park  a  part  of  the  plan,  or  rather 
the  improvement  would  be  an  adjunct  to  the  Park  and  give  a  grand 
tour  or  circuit  through  the  whole  region,  embracing  Central 
Park,  Riverside  avenue  and  the  terrace  rides  and  drives. 

AS  A  WORLD'S  FAIR  FEATURE. 

"I  had  still  another  object  in  view.  In  the  eventual  World's 
Fair  to  be  held  in  Xew  York  the  terrace  devoted  to  these  objects 
would  provide  the  avenue  for  all  nations,  which  was  one  of  the 
great  features  of  the  World's  Fair  in  Paris,  extending  there  along 
the  west  bank  of  the  Seine  from  the  place  of  the  Hotel  des 
Invalides  to  the  Champs  de  Mars,  the  latter  place  being  appro- 
priated for  the  large  buildings  and  architectural  effects. 

"  A  similar  place  to  complete  our  display  would  be  found  on 
the  plateau  of  Riverside  Park  and  drive  and  adjacent  territory. 

"  In  April,  1893,  the  naval  review  of  the  world  provided  for  in 
the  Columbus  Fair  bill  will  be  held  in  our  harbor.  All  foreign 
nations  are  to  be  invited  to  send  divisions  of  war  ships.  Our 
own  contribution  will  be  formidable  and  impressive.  We  will 
have  from  eighteen  to  twenty  steel  ships  of  the  latest  and  best 


LO 


build  and  equipment.  All  the  maritime  nations  of  the  world 
will  participate  and  naturally  will  seek  to  produce  the  greatest 
possible  effect  in  their  representation,  both  in  the  number  and 
power  of  their  ships.  The  ships  of  all  nations  are  to  rendezvous 
at  Hampton  Roads  and  proceed  from  thence  to  our  harbor. 

"  There  will  be  rather  a  crowded  condition  of  affairs.  Arrange- 
ments are  already  completed  by  which  the  President,  Cabinet 
and  diplomatic  representatives  are  to  participate  in  the  review. 
But  the  people  are  not  included. 

"  This  will  not  do.  The  display  is  to  be  part  of  a  demonstra- 
tion for  the  interest  and  benefit  of  the  public  at  large — of  the 
whole  country — as  far  as  they  choose  to  participate. 

A  NATURAL  GRAND  STAXD. 

"  What  a  splendid  reviewing  stand  the  proposed  terrace 
improvement  will  provide  for  the  general,  State  and  municipal 
governments,  say  at  Eighty-sixth  street,  where  the  river  is  but  an 
arm  of  the  sea,  in  which  the  people  by  the  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands can  take  part.  At  this  point  the  river  is  nearly  a  mile  and 
a  half  wide.  The  channel  is  half  a  mile  wide  and  at  low  tide  has 
a  depth  of  water  to  float  freely  the  largest  ships  that  will  be  sent 
to  us,  and  they  could  sail  past  a  given  point  in  regulated  order. 

"The  Great  Eastern,  the  longest  ship  ever  launched  and  draw- 
ing the  greatest  depth  of  water  of  any  craft  of  her  time,  sailed 
up  under  full  steam  above  Seventy-second  street  and  turned  and 
descended  without  slackening  her  speed.  What  an  effective  dis- 
play could  be  made  here,  our  military  joining  in  a  shore  demon- 
stration, with  artillery  salutes  from  the  high  banks  and  the  like/' 


ITS  DIFFICULTIES. 


MANY    AROSE    BUT  THE    WAY    IS    NOW    PAVED    CLEAR    FOR  THE 
SUCCESS  OF  THE  IDEA. 

"  And  did  you  encounter  no  difficulties?  "  I  asked  Mr.  Sweeny. 

"  Yes,  indeed/'  he  exclaimed.  "  As  I  advanced  in  the  eifort 
to  mature  my  plan  many  obstacles  presented  themselves.  There 
was  the  shore  line  to  be  considered,  the  soundings  as  to  the 
depths  of  water,  the  elevation  of  the  terrace,  the  question  of 
grade,  how  the  intersecting  streets — Seventy-ninth  and  Ninety- 


11 


sixth — were  to  be  provided  for  without  breaking  the  driving  and 
riding1  courses  ;  then  the  railroad  and  its  noise  were  to  be  com- 
bated  and  put  out  of  harm's  way. 

"  It  was  necessary  that  there  should  be  no  leaping  in  the  dark 
as  to  cost.  Reliable  estimates  ought  to  be  had  and  I  could  not 
make  them. 

"  There  was  only  one  way  out  and  that  was  by  securing  com- 
petent assistance.  I  determined  to  obtain  the  best  engineering 
aid  the  city  aiforded.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  deciding  as  to  the 
man  for  the  crisis.  I  felt  that  if  I  could  secure  the  services  of 
Leopold  Eidlitz,  the  distinguished  civil  engineer,  the  fortune  of 
the  scheme  would  be  made  beyond  perad venture,  because  of  his 
ability  and  his  experience  in  like  cases,  but  also  because  of  his 
comprehensive  local  knowledge,  having  been  identified  with  so 
many  important  city  improvements  and  having  resided  for  over 
forty  years  within  the  locality  of  Riverside  Park. 

ENGINEER  EIDLITZ   CALLED  IN. 

"I  lost  no  time  in  calling  on  Mr.  Eidlitz  and  laying  my  idea 
before  him.  He  listened  closely  to  what  I  had  to  say,  and  after 
some  hesitation  and  delay,  caused  by  his  engagements,  he 
decided,  to  my  great  relief,  to  take  charge  professionally  of  the 
development  of  the  project  for  public  consideration. 

"  We  have  had  many  conferences  on  the  subject  since  then. 
His  conclusion  is  entirely  favorable.  He  has  made  an  estimate 
of  the  cost  of  every  foot  of  the  work. 

"  His  first  master  thought  was  to  build  a  seawall  along  the  whole 
line  from  Seventy-second  street  to  Ninety-eighth  street,  with  an 
exterior  avenue  adjoining  for  public  use  forty  feet  wide,  thus 
securing  at  the  outset  wharf  facilities  for  all  the  present  and 
future  wants  of  the  upper  western  section  of  the  city,  and  the 
possession  by  the  city  of  water  front  property  and  franchises  of 
inestimable  value.    But  I  will  not  further  anticipate  his  report. 

"It  was  necessary  for  me  to  proceed  with  great  caution  to  pre- 
vent a  premature  explosion  of  the  scheme,  by  which  its  success 
might  be  jeopardized.  I  learned  one  day,  however,  about  this 
time,  that  Michael  Coleman,  the  able  and  indefatigable  president 
of  the  Tax  Board,  had  heard  in  a  general  way  of  my  proposition 
and  its  principal  object ;  that  he  had  taken  it  up  and  worked  it 
out  in  his  own  way,  and  not  knowing  the  special  means  I  was 


12 


employing  intended  to  present  his  scheme  to  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment  for  consideration  forthwith. 

"  I  waited  on  Mr.  Coleman  and  explained  the  situation,  claim- 
ing something  in  the  right  of  original  discovery  and  urging  him 
to  wait  for  Mr.  Eidlitz's  report.  Mr.  Coleman,  who  evidently 
had  no  object  to  subserve  but  the  public  interests,  acceded  to  my 
request,  stipulating  that  there  should  be  no  unnecessary  delay.  I 
have  obtained  a  copy  of  Mr.  Coleman's  report  and  plan,  as  well 
as  Mr.  Eidlitz's  report.  Mr.  Coleman  heartily  favors  the  project,, 
but  differs  with  me  as  to  some  details. 

WHAT  OTHER  CITIES  HAVE  DONE. 

"If  we  look  for  encouragement  in  this  enterprise  we  find  it 
amply  in  the  largeness  of  spirit  and  the  vigor  shown  by  the 
authorities  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  world  in  carrying  for- 
ward public  improvements.  London  furnishes  a  striking  illus- 
tration in  the  Thames  Embankment.  To  cover  the  unsightly 
annoyance  of  the  mud  on  the  shore  of  the  river,  as  the  tide 
receded,  within  the  city  limits  London  expended  fifteen  millions 
of  dollars  in  constructing  an  embankment  with  a  marine  wall  of 
large  granite  blocks  facing  the  river. 

"  The  Victoria  Embankment  stretches  from  Blackfriars  Bridge- 
to  AVestminster,  by  which  thirty-seven  acres  of  land  have  been 
reclaimed.  The  Albert  Embankment,  from  AVestminster  Bridge 
to  Vauxhall  Bridge,  gained  about  nine  acres,  chiefly  occupied  by 
St.  Thomas  Hospital.  The  Chelsea  Embankment,  between 
Vauxhall  Bridge  and  Chelsea  Hospital,  reclaimed  about  nine 
and  a  half  acres,  now  occupied  as  a  roadway,  seventy  feet  in 
width. 

"  We  will  reclaim  nearly  double  the  quantity  of  land,  besides 
the  other  great  advantages,  at  one-third  of  the  expense  of  Lon- 
don's achievement.  I  might  refer  also  to  the  example  of  Paris 
with  the  Seine  and  of  the  grandeur  of  recent  expenditures  for 
local  improvements  in  Berlin  and  Vienna.  But  we  have  stronger 
encouragement  at  home  of  rather  a  defying  character,  in  the  spirit 
and  determination  of  our  would-be  competitor — Chicago. 

"  Within  a  few  days  it  has  been  decided  to  fill  in  Lake  Michi- 
gan for  the  temporary  uses  of  the  fair,  so  as  to  make  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  land  for  exhibition  purposes. 


13 


W EST  SIDE  IMPROVEMENTS. 

"  During  the  last  seven  years  private  capitalists  have  expended 
over  $150,000,000  west  of  Central  Park,  building  up  a  beautiful 
city  where  before  were  stagnation,  barren  rock  and  a  dreary  waste 
of  land,  and  taxable  values  have  in  consequence  been  increased 
to  an  almost  inconceivable  extent.  Over  five  thousand  build- 
ings have  been  erected  in  that  time  of  a  substantial  as  well  as 
ornamental  character. 

"  In  1889,  839  buildings  were  erected  in  this  district  at  a  cost 
of  $21,000,000,  and  the  work  does  not  diminish  in  the  present 
year.  The  improvements  of  streets  and  avenues  in  grades  and 
pavements  have  been  of  the  best  and  most  costly  character — paid 
for  by  the  local  owners. 

"  This  improvement  would  fittingly  and  handsomely  round  out 
the  magnificent  development  of  the  West  End.  Have  the  public 
authorities  the  energy,  spirit  and  calibre  to  keep  step  with  pri- 
vate enterprize?    I  think  they  have." 


NO  BURDEN  OF  EXPENSE. 


IT  WILL  NOT  COST  THE  TAXPAYERS  A  DOLLAR  EXCEPT  IN 
INTEREST. 

One  of  the  most  important  considerations  in  any  scheme  of 
public  improvement,  of  course,  is  the  cost.  In  such  a  large  pro- 
ject as  that  of  the  splendid  west  side  terrace  the  question  is  nat- 
urally suggested  at  the  very  outset  how  much  the  public  treasury 
will  be  taxed,  and  I  put  it  to  Mr.  Sweeny. 

"  It  will  not  cost  the  taxpayers  a  dollar,"  said  he,  emphati- 
cally, "  to  make  the  improvement  I  propose,  except  interest  on 
the  total  expenditure  at  two  and  a  half  per  cent.  Nor  will  the 
local  property  owners  have  to  pay  a  penny  for  the  assessment, 
because  the  work  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  city,  and 
the  adjoining  property  belongs  to  the  municipality. 

"The  sinking  fund  is  well  able  to  bear  the  expense  at  this 
time.  The  character  and  value  of  the  city's  resources  are  not 
generally  known,  nor  what  are  called  the  mysteries  of  the  sink- 
ing fund  sufficiently  explored.    There  is  really  no  mystery. 


L4 


"  From  time  to  time,  as  the  city  incurred  debt,  it  pledged 
revenues  as  security  for  payment — stipulating  that  those  revenues 
should  always  be  devoted  to  the  payment  and  redemption  of  the 
debt  until  the  obligation  was  fully  discharged.  These  revenues 
have  been  greatly  augmented  in  value,  so  much  so  that  what 
were  originally  hundreds  of  thousands  have  become  millions. 

PLENTY  OF  MONEY  OK  HAND. 

In  1888  the  revenues  of  the  sinking  fund  were  $8,903,284.80, 
drawn,  from  thirty-four  separate  accounts,  being  an  increase  on 
the  year  before  of  about  $400,000.  The  chief  items  of  this  grand 
total  were  as  follows  : 

Market  rents     $287,993  62 

Docks  and  slips  rents    1,384,469  72 

Revenue  from  investments,  which  means  interest  on  bonds 
redeemed  in  advance  of  the  maturing-  of  the  debt,  and 
which  the  law  provides  shall  receive  interest  as  a  revenue 

to  the  fund     1,843,738  15 

Assessment  fund   484,054  29 

Surplus  revenue  of  the  sinking-  fund  for  the  payment  of  in- 
terest on  the  city  debt,  Act  of  1878      2,750,000  00 

Redemption  of  city  debt  to  transfer  from  citjT  treasury          1,547,097  31 

Twenty-seven  smaller  accounts   605,931  71 

Total  $8,903,284  80 

f<  This  year  the  total  revenue  of  the  sinking  fund  at  the  same 
rate  of  increase  should  be  $9,700,000.  I  have  not  taken  up  this 
year,  for  a  reason  which  need  not  now  be  mentioned,  except  to 
say  that  there  is  an  item  requiring  correction. 

"  The  finances  of  the  city  are  in  an  extremely  healthy  condi- 
tion. Last  year  $9,000,000  were  expended  for  parks  in  the  an- 
nexed district  and  Westchester  county,  from  fourteen  to  twenty 
miles  from  the  City  Hall.  That  was  an  expenditure  for  posterity. 
I  propose  now  an  outlay  greatly  less  for  the  benefit  of  the  live 
men  and  live  interests  of  New  York. 

"The  proposed  improvement  will  require  an  Act  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  give  the  requisite  authority  to  begin  the  work  and  to 
provide  for  the  loan  to  pay  for  it.  There  were  ten  millions  set 
apart  for  the  World's  Fair,  which,  of  course,  has  not  been  used 
in  any  manner.  The  law  stands.  The  appropriation  is  un- 
changed. 


L5 


I  propose  that  a  portion  of  this  un needed  ten  millions  be 
appropriated  for  this  project.  It  has  relation  to  the  fair  of  the 
future,  and  may  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  naval  review. 

THE  SEA  WALL  QUESTION. 

"  The  condition  in  regard  to  the  exterior  river  and  harbor 
lines  is  changed.  The  present  lines  were  established  by  a  com- 
mission appointed  under  a  law  of  the  State  passed  in  1S55.  But 
the  general  government  has  assumed  control  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject as  an  incident  of  the  national  defence  pursuant  to  an  Act  of 
Congress  passed  August  11,  1888,  and  conferred  the  authority  on 
the  War  Department.  The  Secretary  of  War  has  appointed  a 
scientific  board  to  pass  on  all  questions  relating  to  the  lines  affect- 
ing navigation,  at  the  head  of  which  is  the  distinguished  en- 
gineer, General  Henry  L.  Abbott.  The  Board  is  sitting  daily 
here  in  this  city. 

"  This  Board  has  adopted  the  principle  of  requiring  exterior 
sea  walls,  such  as  is  proposed  here,  and  have  established  an  ex- 
terior line  to  Eighty-first  street,  which  answers  my  purpose  and 
in  effect  covers  the  whole  ground. 

"I  should  remark  that  the  expense  for  the  dock  and  public 
street  belongs  to  the  Dock  Department  and  should  be  separated 
from  the  cost  of  the  terrace  and  its  roads  and  walks.  The  latter 
are  essentially  a  part  of  the  Riverside  Park." 


EULOGY  OF  THE  HORSE. 


MR.  SWEENY  GROWS  ELOQUENT  OVER   THE    GOOD    QUALITIES  OF 
MAN'S  BEST  BRUTE  FRIEND. 

After  listening  to  Mr.  Sweeny's  logical  and  statistical  argu- 
ments for  the  great  public  improvement  in  which  millions  of 
dollars  will  be  involved,  one  would  not  suspect  him  of  the  elo- 
quence on  the  subject  of  the  horse  that  he  next  favored  me  with. 
As  the  splendid  west  side  terrace  is  to  be  devoted  mainly  to  rid- 
ing and  driving,  however,  it  is  not  so  strange  after  all  that  Mr. 
Sweeny  should  have  bestowed  considerable  thought  on  the  ani- 
mal that,  next  to  man,  will  be  most  interested. 

"  The  horse  is  coming  to  the  front  remarkably  in  his  individ- 
uality.     I  had  almost  said  personality,"  observed  Mr.  Sweeny 


L6 


after  we  had  talked  at  random  about  the  scheme  for  a  few  min- 
utes. "  In  the  press,  as  you  know,  the  horse  is  a  favored  com- 
petitor of  distinguished  men  for  notice. 

"  The  appearance,  traits  and  achievements  of  the  thorough- 
bred of  first  class  ability  are  recorded  with  the  minutest  fidelity. 
The  recent  race  between  Salvator  and  Tenny,  for  example,  was 
described  in  the  Herald  with  a  graphic  force  and  an  artistic 
brilliancy  of  word  painting  rarely  equalled.  What  could  be  finer 
than  the  aristocratic  beauty,  the  proud  carriage,  the  spirited  ex- 
pression of  the  eye,  the  dilated  nostril  and  quivering  emotion  of 
Salvator  before  the  race,  his  courage,  power  and  endurance  in 
the  encounter  and  his  magnificent  rally  at  the  desperate  close, 
when  victory  was  about  to  be  rudely  wrested  from  him  ? 

POPULAE  INTEREST. 

"  Then,  too,  his  bearing  of  conscious  triumph  when  the  vic- 
tory was  won,  as  he  grandly  marched  to  his  palatial  stable  every 
inch  a  king — how  eloquently  all  these  things  were  told  !  How  the 
rugged  uncouthness,  the  bony  rigidity  and  the  haughty,  disdain- 
ful sullenness  of  Tenny  were  set  forth.  His  indifference  at  first 
and  final  determination,  grimly  taken  at  the  last  moment,  for  a 
death  struggle  to  gain  the  battle — his  Titanic  efforts,  alas,  too 
late  ! 

"  Forty  thousand  spectators — the  greater  part  from  this  city 
and  drawn  from  every  walk  of  life,  many  of  them  ladies — attended 
that  contest,  giving  up  their  day  to  it  ;  witnessing  the  event 
with  breathless  eagerness.  It  lasted  just  two  minutes  and  eight 
seconds.  But  what  a  zest  it  gave  to  that  day's  life  of  the  forty 
thousand  eager  human  beings  !  And  what  a  revelation  it  opens 
up  of  the  relation  of  the  horse  to  man  in  these  later  days  ! 

"Citizens  who  own  fast  trotters  and  who  have  the  ability  and 
desire  to  drive  them  at  high  speed  are  very  numerous  in  this 
city.  One  driving  club  numbers  two  thousand  members  of  our 
heaviest  taxpayers.  They  are  representative,  influential  men  in 
every  department  of  civic  usefulness. 

"  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  contribute — largely  in 
giving  stamina  to  trade,  firmness  to  finance,  courage  to  Wall 
street  and  a  stirring  share  of  the  general  magnetism  which  goes 
to  make  up  the  progressive  force  of  this  brilliant  metropols. 


i; 


"  Every  profession  is  represented  in  the  list  I  have  referred  to 
except  the  law.  And  yet  it  seems  only  yesterday  since  the  pro- 
fession was  represented  here  by  '  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all/ 
Roscoe  Conkling,  whose  picturesque  vitality  behind  his  splendid 
horse  was  a  feature  of  the  road  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  Men 
conservative  in  character,  of  the  highest  rank  for  distinguished 
service  in  the  most  useful  fields,  have  been  and  are  among 
the  most  zealous  votaries  of  this  exhilarating  diversion  and 
exercise. 

FOUR  FAMOUS  DRIVERS. 

i(  As  I  am  talking  four  names  of  the  contemporaneous  fast  driv- 
ers come  to  my  mind — General  Grant,  Commodore  Vanderbilt, 
Robert  Bonner  and  Russell  Sage.  Two  have  gone  before,  two  re- 
main. How  different  in  character,  but  how  thoroughly  they 
agreed  in  this  mode  of  leisure  occupation. 

"  General  Grant  dearly  loved  a  good  horse,  and  of  all  recre- 
ation driving  a  first  class  stepper  was  his  greatest  delight.  How 
he  enjoyed  his  rides  with  Mr.  Bonner  behind  Maud  S. !  General 
Grant  was  considered,  with  all  his  great  qualities,  a  cold,  delib- 
erate, slow  man  of  latent  power  needing  to  be  aroused.  His  life, 
as  told  by  himself,  disproves  that.  He  was  of  an  ardent,  in- 
tense nature  under  good  control.  He  could  wait  on  necessity, 
but  he  had  daring  and  dash  equal  to  his  genius.  He  took  no 
risks  which  calculation  did  not  justify.  And  for  all  these  rea- 
sons he  was  a  model  driver. 

"  Commodore  Vanderbilt  displayed  the  same  Napoleonic  in- 
difference— contempt,  if  you  please — for  mere  man  on  the  road 
that  he  did  in  all  his  life's  transactions.  He  asserted  and  took 
in  his  own  hands  the  supreme  right  to  go  ahead  of  all  others. 
Every  one  had  to  get  out  of  his  way  or  take  the  consequences. 
He  drove  straight  ahead,  as  direct  at  the  steel  rails  of  the  Cen- 
tral. If  there  was  any  turning  to  do,  others  had  to  do  it.  He 
never  missed  the  road  for  his  afternoon's  drive  for  any  business 
whatever. 

"  Robert  Bonner,  with  all  the  calm,  sagacious  staying  qualities 
of  his  race,  imperturbable  and  impenetrable,  is,  to  the  surprise 
of  many,  a  devoted  fast  driver.  There  is  a  wide  field  for  thought 
in  the  whole  subject. 

"  Russell  Sage,  with  his  calmness  of  judgment  and  subtle 


18 


reach,  who  daily  risks  a  fortune  in  asserting  his  ability  to  see 
further  into  the  middle  of  next  week,  or  for  that  matter  next 
month,  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  who  baffles  all  Wall 
street,  confesses  to  but  one  great  extravagance,  a  fast  team  of 
the  fastest,  which  go  over  the  road  for  all  their  owner  is  worth. 

THE  CHARM  OF  IT. 

"  What  is  that  which  gives  this  charm  to  the  pursuit?  High 
action  and  hastened  motion  create  pleasurable  excitement, 
quickening  and  vitalizing  the  energies  of  body  and  mind.  It  is 
an  open  air  exercise  and  brings  health  in  its  train.  It  is 
attended  with  agreeable  associations  and  friendly  contests,  the 
successes  of  which  require  to  be  maintained  and  the  failures  re- 
versed. 

"  Let  us  look  a  little  into  details  as  to  what  the  practice  in- 
volves. In  the  first  place  the  owner  must  be  able  to  drive  a  fast 
horse,  and  this  requires  certain  qualifications — courage,  steadi- 
ness of  nerve  and  alertness  of  mind.  The  rapid  goer  must  be 
secure  in  all  dependent  incidents,  leave  nothing  to  chance, 
strong  of  wagon,  sure  of  axle,  bolts  and  cross  pieces,  with  an 
eye  to  discover  the  slightest  defect  at  a  glance.  He  must  be  cer- 
tain of  his  harness  and  above  all  command  his  horse. 

"  The  duties  of  ownership  involve  something — the  stable,  the 
morning  visits  to  the  stalls,  the  kindly  relations  with  the  animal, 
and  finally  the  excitement  of  the  road.  The  time  spent  in  this 
way  is  time  well  spent.  It  may  be  costly  in  mere  money,  but  it 
is  profitable.  It  is  not  entered  in  the  ledger,  but  the  returns  are 
very  sure. 

"  The  practice  is  increasing  daily  in  New  York.  In  no  other 
city  is  there  any  approach  to  the  general  habit  which  prevails 
with  us.  But  there  is  no  longer  a  place  on  Manhattan  Island 
where  a  man  can  speed  his  horse  and  get  the  enjoyment  he  is  en- 
titled to  without  being  chased  by  a  policeman  and  hunted  as  if 
he  had  committed  a  crime  of  the  blackest  magnitude  against  the 
law." 


1!' 


STEPS  TO  BE  TAKEN. 


SUGGESTIONS  AS  TO  THE  COMMISSIONS  THAT  MUST  BE 
APPOINTED  AS  SOON  AS  POSSIBLE. 

Having  heard  with  much  interest  this  eloquent  tribute  to  the 
horse  and  description  of  his  rapid  advancement  in  popularity 
among  New  Yorkers,  I  asked  Mr.  Sweeny  what  steps  he  pro- 
posed to  take  to  advance  the  magnificent  project  to  which  he 
had  committed  himself  so  heartily.  He  was  as  ready  with  an 
answer  as  he  had  been  to  all  my  questions. 

"  I  propose,"  he  said,  "  that  the  subject,  not  necessarily  my 
proposition,  but  the  consideration  of  the  improvement  of  the 
river  side  west  of  Riverside  Park  be  committed  to  an  advisory 
commission,  after  the  manner  adopted  in  regard  to  the  World's 
Fair.  This  commission  can  present  a  perfected  plan  to  the 
Legislature  for  the  requisite  authority. 

"The  advantage  of  this  course,  among  other  things,  will  be 
that  the  Legislature  will  have  prepared  for  it  an  impartial  body, 
appointed  by  home  authority,  to  carry  forward  the  work  without 
being  called  on  to  give  such  extensive  power  to  any  partisan 
department  or  body  which  would  probably  defeat  it. 

•f  An  important  commission  will  be  required  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Supreme  Court  to  decide  all  questions  of  claimed  owner- 
ship and  to  make  awards  for  the  extinguishment  of  such  claims. 
This  commission  should  be  composed  of  eminent  men  of  business 
capacity,  who  will  act  with  all  speed.  For  example,  such  men  as 
Thomas  C.  Piatt,  William  C.  Whitney  and  Mr.  Astor. 

DEPEW  AT  THE  HEAD. 

"  For  the  advisory  committee  we  should  have  as  its  head 
Chauncey  M.  Depew.  His  unrivalled  qualifications  make  it  fitting 
that  he  should  be  first  in  every  movement  for  the  public  benefit. 
Besides,  there  are  interests  of  the  Central  Railroad  involved 
which  he  can  represent  and  reconcile.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Mr.  Depew  said,  not  long  ago,  that  the  Yanderbilts  would 
not  allow  their  private  interests  to  stand  in  the  way  of  any  general 
public  demand. 

"  The  rest  of  the  committee  I  would  suggest  as  follows  : 
Robert  Bonner  will  be  indispensable  in  all  respects,  among  others, 


20 


for  the  development  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  fast  driv- 
ing privileges  are  to  be  enjoyed.  These  privileges  should  be 
carefully  guarded.  Professionals  must  keep  to  their  own  ground, 
the  race  tracks,  for  which  there  is  ample  provision. 

"  There  should  be  no  announcements  of  events  or  betting 
allowed.  The  terrace  is  to  be  simply  a  place  where  the  private 
citizen  can  decorously  enjoy  a  much  valued  recreation. 

OTHER  COMMISSIONERS. 

"  John  D.  Crimmins  I  suggest  for  his  experience  and  general 
ability.  No  one  is  so  generally  consulted  in  regard  to  structural 
work  in  this  section  of  the  country.  Leonard  W.  Jerome,  the 
veteran  gentleman  horseman  of  the  United  States,  who  knows  all 
about  the  requirements  ;  Russell  Sage,  for  his  thoughtful  advice 
— there  cannot  be  too  much  Sageness  in  the  movement ;  Joseph 
H.  Choate,  as  a  skillful  horseman — not  quite  so  distinguished  in 
that  line  as  in  his  profession,  where  as  an  all  round  lawyer  he 
leads  everyone  in  the  race,  but  as  the  representative  of  the  lady 
and  gentlemen  riders  of  New  York — he  can  guard  the  equestrian 
part  of  the  scheme,  he  would  also  keep  the  commission  straight 
on  the  law  ;  John  D.  Rockefeller,  an  interested  citizen  who  has  the 
merit  of  accomplishing  all  he  undertakes  ;  Leopold  Eidlitz,  the 
engineer,  who  has  matured  the  project  and  who  has  all  the  plans 
and  estimates  and  data  as  to  cost  ;  Michael  Coleman,  the  walking 
encyclopaedia  of  municipal  knowledge — especially  of  all  property 
information,  and  who,  as  I  have  shown,  has  studied  the  subject 
— he  is  a  fast  driver  in  his  public  duties  as  well  as  on  the  road, 
and,  as  the  taxpayers  know,  a  first  class  man  ;  Frederick  Law 
Olmstead,  who  has  made  his  name  imperishable  by  the  work  of 
his  creative  genius  in  the  Central  Park  ;  Lawson  N.  Fuller,  the 
indomitable  and  irrepressible,  who  has  been  in  the  lead,  agitating 
the  subject  for  years,  his  help  is  a  vital  necessity  ;  Frank  Work, 
the  successful  banker,  who  has  been  a  fast  driver  from  way  back, 
and  knows  exactly  what  is  needed  ;  Mr.  Gilroy,  Commissioner  of 
the  Department  of  Public  Works,  Mr.  Matthews,  president  of 
the  Department  of  Docks,  and  the  president  of  the  Department 
of  Parks,  for  their  practical  suggestions  and  assistance  ;  the 
president  of  the  Park  Board,  whose  name  is  "Gallup,"  especially 
appropriate  to  the  project,  though  he  has  been  Gallnping  danger- 
ously fast  of  late  in  the  wrong  direction  on  the  Menagerie  course  ; 


21 


the  engineer  of  the  Dock  Department,  Mr.  Greene,  and  the 
engineer  of  the  Park  Department  for  their  professional  guidance, 
and  Mr.  Myers,  the  Comptroller,  for  his  ability  and  because  he 
will  have  to  look  out  for  the  finances  involved. 

MAYOR  GRANT  WILL  HELP. 

"  These  are  some  of  the  names  that  have  occurred  to  me.  The 
rest  should  be  arranged  so  as  to  give  neither  Democrats  nor 
Republicans  cause  to  complain.  It  is  fortunate  we  have  a  Mayor 
who  can  comprehend  the  whole  subject,  the  character  of  the 
men  who  ask  this  consideration,  the  justice  of  their  claim,  and 
the  advantage  to  the  city  at  large  of  this  ornamental  development. 

"  I  shall  be  surprised  if  the  scheme  does  not  enlist  Mayor 
Grant's  hearty  and  powerful  support.  He  will  lose  no  part  of 
his  popularity  by  so  doing. 

"  This  will  end  my  connection  with  the  matter.  I  commit  it 
now  to  abler  and  more  influential  hands.  I  will  be  engaged 
otherwise  and  elsewhere  when  it  requires  to  be  advanced  to 
success.    I  have  done  all  that  can  be  required  of  me." 


ENGINEER  EIDLITZ'S  VIEWS. 


HE    SHOWS    HOW    THE    SCHEME    IS    PERFECTLY    FEASIBLE  AND 
ADVANTAGEOUS. 

The  following  is  the  report  on  Mr.  Sweeny's  project  made  by 
Mr.  Eidlitz  : 
Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny  : 

Dear  Sir.. — The  property  holders  on  Riverside  Drive  and  its 
vicinity  have  long  considered  the  expediency  of  the  acquisition 
by  the  city  of  the  water  rights  west  of  the  Hudson  River  Railroad 
and  of  the  realties  connected  with  it  along  the  line  of  Riverside 
Park,  extending  from  Seventy-second  street  to  130th  street,  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  the  Riverside  Park  and  Drive  against 
possible  objectional  uses  of  that  property  in  the  hands  of  private 
individuals,  and  of  regulating  the  shipping  and  its  landing  priv- 
ileges in  that  neighborhood. 

By  the  law  of  1885  Riverside  Park  has  been  extended  to  the 
easterly  boundary  line  of  the  Hudson  River  road,  and  thereby  the 
Twelfth  avenue  heretofore  contemplated  has  been  absorbed  by 


22 


Riverside  Park.  It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  that  a  road  for 
traffic  shall  be  opened  west  of  the  Hudson  River  road,  and  with 
that  view,  and  to  further  the  above  mentioned  interests  of  the 
property  holders,  the  Park  Commission  has  favorably  entertained 
the  project  of  acquiring  a  space  of  say  two  hundred  feet  west  of 
the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  and  treat  this  space  as  an  extension 
of  the  Park. 

No  active  steps,  however,  have  as  yet  been  taken  in  that  direc- 
tion beyond  the  preparation  of  some  tentative  sketches  by  the 
architect  of  the  Park  Commission,  showing  mainly  how  access  to 
the  new  road  might  be  gained  by  arching  over  the  railroad  occa- 
sionally, and  by  light  bridges  where  the  ground  presented  favor- 
able abutments. 

Your  views  on  this  subject  are  vastly  more  comprehensive  than 
anything  heretofore  contemplated,  and  as  you  wished  me  to 
consider  and  report  to  you  upon  the  technical  possibilities  of  the 
project,  and  to  prepare  a  drawing  of  the  intended  improvement, 
I  take  the  liberty  herewith,  as  a  preliminary  to  my  work,  to  pre- 
sent to  you  an  informal  statement  of  my  understanding  of  the 
various  elements  of  the  case  as  I  gather  them  from  the  several 
conversations  we  had  upon  the  subject. 

THE  SCHEME  IN  DETAIL. 

You  say  primarily  that  there  is  a  great  need  of  a  driving 
avenue  on  this  island;  that  a  large  number  of  wealthy,  cultivated 
and  influential  gentlemen  are  interested  in  having  it.  You  cite 
as  a  proof  of  this  beyond  your  own  knowledge,  the  fact  that  from 
time  to  time  the  project  is  agitated  to  have  a  place  for  fast  driv- 
ing in  Central  Park.  You  fully  agree  with  the  course  heretofore 
pursued  by  the  Park  Commission  to  resist  this  pressure.  You 
are  of  opinion  that  a  driving  course  in  the  Central  Park  is  incon- 
sistent with  its  uses,  but  you  think  that  the  danger  of  its  intro- 
duction there  can  be  avoided  only  by  constructing  it  elsewhere, 
and  you  think  the  west  side  of  the  Riverside  Park,  if  extended 
some  three  hundred  feet  into  the  river,  a  proper  and  convenient 
place  for  it.  You  further  believe  that  we  need  an  equestrian 
promenade,  somewhat  of  the  character  of  Rotten  Row  in  London, 
which  also  might  be  provided  in  the  same  locality.  In  connec- 
tion with  all  this  you  think  that  somewhere,  say  in  the  neighbor- 


v 


23 


hood  of  Ninety-sixth  street,  there-should  be  provided  a  landing 
place  of  state,  for  the  reception  of  distinguished  guests  of  the 
city. 

You  propose  that  the  city  should,  for  these  public  uses,  acquire 
the  lands  and  water  rights  between  Seventy-second  and  130th 
streets  (the  bulk  of  this  land  and  the  riparian  rights  appertaining 
to  it  are  now  owned  by  the  city),  build  an  embankment  and  fill 
behind  this  a  sufficient  breadth  of  land  to  accommodate  all  these 
improvements,  and  in  this  connection  you  ask  whether  the  New 
York  Central  Railroad  may  not  be  arched  over  and  the  ground 
thus  gained  be  utilized  for  this  purpose — an  idea  which  had 
occurred  to  others  as  well  as  to  yourself,  and  which  should  be 
considered  in  its  legal  and  technical  bearings. 

You  are  further  of  the  opinion  that  the  roadway  for  fast  driv- 
ing should  be  eighty  feet  and  the  equestrian  road  not  less  than 
fifty  feet  wide,  and  that  a  cart  road  for  traffic  should  be  provided 
to  take  the  place  of  the  so-called  Twelfth  avenue,  contemplated 
by  the  law  of  1885. 

PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED. 
Permit  me  to  precede  my  report  upon  these  questions  by  a 
statement  of  general  technical  facts  and  principles  which  will 
mainly  govern  the  carrying  out  of  the  plan  proposed. 

1.  The  rights  of  the  railroad  in  the  use  of  its  roadway  should 
not  and  probably  cannot  be  impaired  in  its  functions  as  far  as  by 
law  they  are  construed  to  be  of  public  use.  This  refers  to  the  con- 
struction of  an  artificial  tunnel,  and  to  the  accessibility  of  the 
road  from  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  the  transhipment  of 
goods. 

2.  The  proposed  driving  and  equestrian  roads  should  be  con- 
nected with  the  Riverside  Drive  at  least  at  their  termini,  and  if 
practicable  at  intermediate  points  for  pedestrians. 

3.  The  traffic  road  must  be  placed  on  the  outer  line  of  the  em- 
bankment to  be  throughout  its  length  accessible  from  the  ship- 
ping, and  must  have  unimpeded  outlets  at  Seventy-ninth  and 
Ninety-sixth  streets,  hence  must  at  these  points  pass  under  the 
driving  and  equestrian  roads. 

4.  The  northern  terminus  of  the  equestrian  road  and  its  con- 
nection with  Riverside  Drive  may  be  fixed  at  Ninety-seventh  and 
Ninety-eighth  streets.  It  will  there  be  a  mile  and  a  quarter  long, 
which  is  quite  long  enough. 


24 


5  and  6.  The  same  applies  to  the  driving  and  traffic  roads,  with 
a  provision  in  the  present  plan  to  extend  them  further  north  at 
some  future  time  if  needful. 

In  response  to  your  questions  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  project 
and  technical  conditions  involved  in  constructing  the  proposed 
driving  and  equestrian  roads  on  the  west  side  of  Riverside 
Park,  I  most  respectfully  report  that  a  fast  driving  road  eighty 
feet  and  an  equestrian  road  fifty  feet  in  width,  with  a  sufficiency 
of  greensward  and  shade  trees  on  either  side  and  between  them, 
and  also  a  roadway  for  traffic  of  fifty  feet  in  width  can  be  con- 
structed entirely  to  the  west  of  the  railroad  by  fixing  the  shore 
line  270  feet  west  oi  it. 

The  bulkhead  line  up  to  Eighty-first  street  as  now  approved 
by  the  Harbor  Board  and  the  Secretary  of  War  answers  fully  up 
to  that  point.  Beyond  it  and  up  to  Ninety-eighth  street  an 
extension  of  some  eighty  feet,  on  an  average,  beyond  the  bulk- 
head line  as  now  established  by  the  old  Harbor  Commission, 
will  be  needed  and  will  probably  meet  with  favorable  considera- 
tion by  the  Harbor  Board  in  view  of  the  importance  of  this 
improvement. 

cak't  be  a  tuoel. 

It  seems  to  me  impracticable  to  cover  the  railroad  with  an 
arch  and  convert  that  roadway  into  a  tunnel.  It  is  a  great  ques- 
tion in  my  mind  whether  the  law  of  eminent  domain  would 
permit  the  city  to  take  partial  possession  of  the  property  now 
occupied  by  the  railroad  to  arch  it  over  and  thus  measurably 
impair  its  facility  of  travel  for  a  public  use  no  more  important 
than  that  of  an  equestrian  road.  Of  this,  however,  you  are 
better  qualified  to  judge  than  I  am. 

To  tunnel  the  road  would  involve  a  heavy  wall  on  either  side 
of  it  and  an  arch  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  span  between  these 
walls.  If  the  ground  over  the  road  is  not  used,  one  of  these 
walls  and  the  arch  are  not  needed. 

Ic  is  supposed  that  the  railroad,  when  arched  over,  will  afford 
space  for  the  equestrian  roads,  but  a  moment's  reflection  will 
show  that  the  artificial  railroad  tunnel  would  have  to  be  venti- 
lated, and  a  place  subject  to  the  constant  emission  of  smoke  and 
steam  is  not  to  be  recommended  for  ladies'  pleasure  riding. 


25 


HEADING  LEVELS. 

•  The  traffic  road  is  placed  ten  feet  above  tide  water,  the  same 
level  as  the  railroad  tracks.  The  driving  and  equestrian  roads 
are  placed  thirty  feet  above  tide  water,  and  twenty  feet  above 
the  traffic  road.  At  Seventy-ninth  and  Ninety-sixth  streets  the 
traffic  road  will  pass  under  the  pleasure  roads,  the  latter  being 
carried  across  these  streets  on  double  arched  viaducts. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  railroad  a  revetment  wall  is  projected 
to  sustain  the  earth  filling  of  twenty  feet  in  height.  It  is 
intended  to  raise  that  filling  between  the  equestrian  road  and 
the  revetment  wall  on  an  incline,  beginning  with  one  foot  at  the 
easterly  line  of  the  equestrian  road  and  rising  to  five  feet  at  the 
westerly  line  of  the  railroad,  and  to  build  up  the  revetment 
wall  twenty-five  feet  high  to  the  top  of  this  rise.  Above  this 
line  there  is  to  be  a  battlement  of  five  feet  in  height  to  exclude 
noise  and  smoke.  This  slope  between  the  equestrian  road  and 
the  railroad  is  to  accommodate  a  walk  some  ten  or  twelve  feet 
wide  next  to  the  equestrian  road,  the  balance  to  be  thickly 
planted  wTith  shrubbery. 

RAILROAD  AND  SHORE. 

Below  and  immediately  adjoining  to  Seventy-second  street  the 
New  York  Central  Eailroad  Company  has  constructed  a  series 
of  docks  and  switches  for  the  convenient  transhipment  of 
goods.  The  facilities  afforded  by  the  present  arrangement  will 
doubtless  answer  the  purposes  of  the  road  for  some  years  to 
come,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  with  the  growing  commerce  of 
the  country  they  must  be  increased  hereafter.  It  is  estimated 
by  persons  well  informed  on  the  subject  that  in  time  they  may 
extend  as  high  as  Seventy-sixth  street  and  perhaps  Eightieth 
street.  A  side  track  will  probably  have  to  be  built  upon  the 
projected  traffic  road,  and  this  track  will  be  connected  with  the 
main  road  from  time  to  time  by  oblique  tracks  and  switches. 

These  connections  can  conveniently  be  made  by  tunnels 
through  the  filling  (twenty  feet  high),  which  sustains  the 
driving  and  equestrian  roads  whenever  needed. 

TERMINI. 

The  driving  and  equestrian  roads  will  be  entered  from  the 
Eiverside  Drive  at  about  Seventy-sixth  or  Seventy-seventh  street, 


26 


where  it  will  connect  with  a  road  through  Riverside  Park  run- 
ning south  to  Seventy-second  street,  and  there  crossing  the  rail- 
road with  a  bridge  so  that  the  southern  end  of  the  pleasure 
roads  will  be  placed  at  Seventy-second  street,  and  the  roads  will 
thence  continue  to  Ninety-eighth  street,  where  they  connect 
again  with  Riverside  Drive  on  a  convenient  grade. 

This  will  make  the  pleasure  roads  one  and  a  quarter  miles  long. 

Most  respectfully,  LEOPOLD  EIDLITZ. 


(New  York  Herald,  Aug.  4, 1890.) 

THE  GREAT  DRIVEWAY  ALONG  THE 
HUDSON. 


Enthusiastic  Approval  of  Me.  Peter  B.  Sweeny's  Project 
as  Published  in  the  Herald — It  is  a  Vital  Improvement 
— What  is  Demanded  by  the  Eapid  Growth  of  the 
City's  Population  and  Wealth — A  Popular  Pleasure 
Drive. 


PROPERTY  OWNERS  WILL  BE  BENEFITED. 


Many  people  who  went  to  Eiverside  Park  yesterday — and  there 
were  lots  of  them — either  carried  a  copy  of  the  Herald  in  their 
hands,  or,  standing  by  the  edge  of  Eiverside  Drive,  looked  over 
toward  the  New  Jersey  shore  of  the  Hudson,  and  remarked  : 
4e  That's  what  the  city  wants — a  grand  terrace  on  the  other  side 
of  the  railway  track  ;  just  what  the  Herald  suggests.  Then 
the  foreground  of  the  view  from  this  walk  would  not  consist  of 
dam  sloops  and  decaying  canal  boats." 

Judging  from  the  remarks  heard  on  all  sides  the  description 
and  plans  published  in  the  Herald  yesterday  detailing  Mr.  Peter 
B.  Sweeny's  project  for  a  broad,  high  terrace  along  the  river 
front  from  Seventy-second  street  to  Ninety-eighth  street,  west  of 
the  Hudson  Eiver  Railway  tracks  and  parallel  with  the  beautiful 
Eiverside  Drive,  struck  the  popular  fancy.  It  means  a  finer  road- 
way for  horsemen  and  riders  than  any  now  existing  in  the  world. 
Certainly  the  announcement  of  the  detailed  plan  has  caused  more 
enthusiasm  concerning  the  project  than  has  been  manifested  by 
New  Yorkers  in  many  a  day  concerning  any  other  public  improve- 
ment. 

The  suggestion,  too,  that  the  $10,000,000  which  was  author- 
ized at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature  for  the  Columbus  fair 
should  be  used  in  part  for  the  erection  of  this  magnificent  road- 

27 


28 


way,  at  once  answered  any  person  who  was  inclined  to  express 
curiosity  as  to  how  the  money  for  the  suggested  improvement 
could  be  raised. 

GO  AND  LOOK  FOR  YOURSELF. 

It  is  only  necessary  for  a  person  who  has  any  faint  objections  to 
the  plan  on  the  ground  of  expense  to  go  to  Riverside  Park,  and, 
looking  away  from  the  score  or  so  of  beautiful  houses  at  the 
right  of  the  drive,  consider  what  the  park  will  probably  amount 
to  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  when  the  present  wharfage  facili- 
ties of  the  lower  part  of  the  city  will  be  in  every  sense  inadequate 
and  the  great  crowd  of  craft  of  all  sorts  will  claim  pier  room 
along  the  upper  shores  of  the  island. 

The  district  to  the  east  of  Riverside  Park,  as  far  as  Central 
Park,  is  likely,  or,  rather,  sure  to  become  within  the  next  twenty 
years,  perhaps,  the  location  of  the  most  beautiful  residences  in 
the  world.  The  advantages  of  pure  air  and  beautiful  surround- 
ings, glimpses  of  the  New  Jersey  hills  at  the  end  of  each  street, 
with  the  glitter  of  the  Hudson  between  ;  the  nearness  of  the 
parks  and  the  accessibility  of  the  district  will  be  insurmountable 
factors  in  its  popularity.    That  is  as  it  appears  now. 

So  it  seemed  to  a  much  less  degree  to  the  persons  who  built 
mansions  on  Columbia  Heights  in  Brooklyn  many  years  ago  and 
had  their  lawns  slope  to  the  shore  of  the  East  River.  Now  their 
views  take  in  the  tops  of  ugly  warehouses  and  the  hideous  wooden 
grain  elevators,  while  with  a  westerly  wind  the  odors  of  molasses 
and  coal  gas  become  strong  enough  to  be  nearly  stifling.  The 
persons  who  built  these  warehouses  owned  the  sites  upon  which 
their  houses  stood,  and,  instead  of  erecting  bone  boiling  establish- 
ments, oil  refineries,  chemical  works  and  similar  commercial 
nuisances,  contented  themselves  with  storage  warehouses. 

A  MATTER  OF  MOMENT. 

Persons  who  live  east  of  Riverside  Park  do  not  own  the  land 
between  the  Hudson  River  Railway  tracks  and  low  water  mark. 
Such  individuals  as  do  hold  rights  of  a  water  frontage  are  more 
likely  to  use  them  for  the  purpose  of  building  manufactories  from 
which  goods  may  be  shipped  direct,  to  avoid  the  cost  of  inter- 
mediate transportation,  than  they  are  to  consult  the  persons  who 
own  property  on  the  hill.    Soft  coal  is  used  more  abundantly  in 


29 


this  city  by  manufactories  every  year,  and  it  will  not  be  pleasant 
for  the  housewives  of  the  future  tenderloin  district  to  find  soot 
marks  upon  their  delicate  lace  hangings.  Yet,  unless  something 
of  the  nature  of  the  improvement  which  Mr.  Sweeny  suggests  is 
accomplished,  the  West  End  will  not  be  such  a  desirable  place 
to  live  in  as  it  is  at  present. 

These  are,  perhaps,  only  such  views  as  real  estate  investors  and 
owners  would  take  of  the  future  possibilities  of  the  West  End. 
It  is  generally  agreed,  however,  now  that  Xew  York  can  afford 
to  begin  to  decorate  herself.  As  the  time  of  square  brick  and 
brown  stone  houses  has  gone  by,  so  also  has  the  time  when  Xew 
York  can  afford  to  neglect  her  approaches  and  her  outward 
appearances.  Tourists  who  approach  Xew  York  by  the  bay  ex- 
claim, "  Oh,  what  a  beautiful  city  \  "  They  change  their  minds 
when  they  have  to  continue  their  sail  up  the  Xorth  or  East 
River.  Successions  of  mud  banks  and  dump  docks  do  not  lend 
much  picturesqueness  to  uptown  Xew  York  from  the  water. 

RIVERSIDE  PARK  CHARMS. 

Eiverside  Park  is  acknowledged  by  all  who  visit  it  to  possess 
possibilities  in  the  way  of  landscape  gardening  that  no  other 
pleasure  ground  in  the  city  has.  It  has  the  supreme  advantage 
of  an  almost  unobstructed  view  of  the  Hudson.  The  narrowness 
of  certain  portions  of  the  park  and  the  necessary  proximity  of 
the  Hudson  River  Railway  trains  to  the  driveway  is  the  chief 
evil,  for  high  spirited  horses  are  nearly  as  susceptible  to  the 
noise  of  locomotives  as  they  are  to  the  actual  view  of  one.  Then 
the  smoke  and  cinders  of  the  locomotives,  when  there  is  a 
westerly  breeze,  make  promenading  and  driving  anything  but 
pleasant. 

All  persons  who  have  recently  visited  the  park,  or  who  visited 
it  during  the  discussion  of  the  international  fair  project,  saw  the 
possibilities  of  its  use  in  a  much  more  satisfactory  manner  than 
at  present.  At  the  time  when  sites  were  the  chief  topic  of  dis- 
cussion, one  of  the  city's  most  prominent  business  men  suggested 
that  several  of  the  smaller  fair  buildings  should  be  erected  upon 
a  platform  on  the  same  plane  as  the  Riverside  Drive,  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  platform  being  sustained  by  steel  pillars  and  trusses 
somewhat  similar  but  more  elaborate,  of  course,  to  the  elevated 


30 


railway  structure.  His  general  idea  was  to  secure  a  view  of  the 
river  from  the  platform  and  a  view  of  the  buildings  from  the 
river. 


COMMISSIONER  COLEMAN'S  VIEWS. 


THE  REPORT  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  TAX  DEPARTMENT  UPON" 
THE  IMPROVEMENT. 

That  Commissioner  Michael  Coleman,  president  of  the  Tax 
Commission,  regards  the  scheme  with  very  great  favor,  so  much 
so  in  fact  that  he  urges  that  it  be  begun  as  a  necessity  for  pre- 
serving the  usefulness  and  beauty  of  Riverside  Park,  is  clearly 
enough  indicated  by  the  following  report  to  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment : 

"  The  request  of  the  Park  Department  for  money  to  build  a  re- 
taining wall  between  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  and  the  River- 
side Park  is  the  opening  wedge  for  the  expenditure  of  a  large 
sum  of  money,  and  calls  for  careful  consideration  of  the  subject. 

Large  sums  of  money  have  been  appropriated  by  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment  during  the  past  twenty  years  and 
have  been  spent  by  the  Park  Department  on  Riverside  Park,  and 
let  me  ask  what  we  have  to-day  in  return?  We  have  a  driveway 
elevated  by  the  natural  topography  of  that  side  of  the  city,  which 
is  the  commencement  of  a  magnificent  improvement,  and  but 
little  else  of  a  favorable  nature  can  be  said  of  it,  for  the  park, 
excepting  a  small  portion  about  Claremont,  is  in  a  rough  and 
ragged  condition,  entirely  inaccessible  in  most  parts  and  ex- 
posed to  the  noise  and  rattle  of  railway  trains  and  the  nuisance 
of  black  and  sulphurous  smoke  from  them.  Upon  the  whole  the 
prospect  to  the  taxpayer  is  not  at  all  encouraging,  when  he  con- 
siders what  he  has  received  and  is  receiving  for  the  large  amounts 
appropriated  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  and 
that  have  been  collected  from  him  in  the  shape  of  direct  assess- 
ments. 

THE  RETAINING  WALL  NOT  ENOUGH. 

The  proposed  retaining  wall,  while  it  would  put  some  finish 
on  the  park  adjoining  the  railroad  and  would  somewhat  improve 
the  grade  of  the  surface,  will  be  very  far  from  presenting  to  New 
York  what  is  needed  there. 


3] 


PARK  COMMISSIONERS  SHOULD  WORK. 

The  noise  and  nuisances  will  still  remain.  I  do  not  think  the 
advantages  would  at  all  justify  the  expenditure.  I  am  not  ready 
for  any  general  condemnation  of  the  Park  Department.  I  desire 
to  encourage  them  and  to  say  that  we  want  more  and  better  work 
from  them — greater  efficiency  in  all  respects.  Our  park  interests 
are  now  very  great  and  demand  the  full  attention  of  a  thoroughly 
competent  Board,  all  the  members  of  which  should  be  paid  and 
their  full  time  required. 

The  rapidly  increasing  wealth  and  population  of  the  city  demand 
expenditures  which  a  few  years  ago  would  have  been  extravagant. 
Instance  the  fact  that  a  population  of  five  hundred  thousand  has 
located  between  59th  and  110th  streets  almost  within  the  last  ten 
years. 

Previous  to  that  peried  there  was  no  need  of  a  communication 
between  the  east  and  west  sides  across  the  park.  Now  it  is  one 
of  the  absurdities  that  no  public  means  of  communication  exist. 
Note  also  the  change  in  the  ability  of  the  park  roadways  to  ac- 
commodate the  driving  public.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  ample  ; 
now  it  is  so  crowded  that  in  pleasant  driving  weather  the  road- 
ways are  a  maze  of  vehicles,  and  driving  faster  than  a  walk  is 
dangerous  to  life  and  property.  Then  also,  note  the  condition 
of  Lenox  and  Seventh  avenues  above  110th  street,  which  a  few 
years  ago  furnished  a  drive  on  which  to  speed  horses,  but  are 
now  so  built  upon  and  so  much  frequented,  as  well  by  the  travel 
on  the  avenues  themselves  as  by  the  constant  crossing  of  the 
rapidly  increasing  population,  that  the  horseman  must  defer  any 
effort  at  speed  until  he  crosses  the  Harlem  River. 

These  situations  have  been  so  keenly  felt  by  the  driving  public 
that  several  unsuccessful  attempts  have  been  lately  made  to 
legislate  in  favor  of  a  fast  driving  road  on  the  westerly  side  of 
the  Central  Park. 

The  class  of  citizens  who  are  thus  seeking  recognition  represent 
very  large  interests  in  our  city  and  number  among  them  our 
largest  taxpayers  and  most  representative  men,  and  their  just 
demands  should  receive  prompt  and  favorable  consideration. 

ADVOCATING  THE  GRAND  DRIVEWAY. 

In  this  connection  I  offer  here,  and  would  ask  this  Board  to 
request  the  attention  of  the  Park  Department  to  it,  a  suggestion 


32 


which,  while  more  expensive  than  that  proposed  by  the  Park 
Department,  will  be  of  such  infinitely  greater  results  in  alleviat- 
ing the  difficulties  that  I  have  enumerated  as  to  make  the  ex- 
penditure a  wise  one. 

I  propose  a  viaduct  along  the  westerly  side  of  Riverside  Park 
with  arched  side  openings  overlooking  the  Hudson  Kiver.  The 
viaduct  will  accommodate  the  Hudson  River  trains,  which  will 
get  light  and  ventilation  through  the  arched  openings,  and  will 
completely  relieve  the  park  from  the  smoke  and  cinders,  and 
practically  relieve  it  from  noise  and  danger.  This  viaduct  will 
extend  from  72d  street  to  129th  street,  and  will  add  a  finish  to 
the  whole  park  by  improving  the  grade  and  width  of  an  unusu- 
ally narrow  and  steep  park,  and  thus  make  it  available  for  walks 
and  shrubbery  to  an  extent  not  attainable  in  its  present  grades. 

On  the  viaduct  I  propose  that  a  superb  roadway  be  built  of  the 
same  width  as  Seventh  avenue  (eighty-five  feet),  to  be  devoted  to 
fast  driving,  with  sidewalks  on  either  side  of  twenty  feet  each, 
and  suitably  supplied  with  shade  trees.  This  would  give  a  nearly 
straight  away  drive  fifty-seven  blocks  long,  with  only  two  cross 
streets,  and  perhaps  they  might  be  arranged  to  cross  at  different 
grades,  and  thus  make  an  uninterrupted  stretch  of  six  blocks 
greater  than  Central  Park,  safe  for  all  time  from  the  dangers  of 
crossings  of  all  kinds. 


NOW  IS  THE  TIME. 


CROSS  SECTION  OF  DRIVEWAY  AT  106TH  STREET. 


All  this  would  be  done  by  simply  having  the  retaining  wall, 
which  the  Park  Commissioners  are  now  proposing  to  build  on 
the  easterly  side  of  the  railroad,  placed  on  the  westerly  side  of 
the  railroad  between  it  and  the  river,  and  enclosing  the  railroad 
by  an  arch  surmounted  with  the  driveway.  This  work  could  be 
especially  well  and  cheaply  done  at  this  time,  as  the  contractors 


33 


with  large  forces  and  plants  of  machinery  and  tools  are  just  com- 
pleting their  contracts  on  the  aqueduct  and  sinking  the  tracks  of 
the  Harlem  railroad,  and  they  would  be  ready  and  able  to  take 
such  contracts  on  very  favorable  terms  to  the  city.  This  work 
would  be  much  less  expensive  than  such  work  would  be  in  many 
locations  because  of  the  abundant  facilities  for  receiving  materials 
along  the  whole  water  front,  extending  from  end  to  end,  and  from 
the  fact  that  it  would  not  be  subject  to  the  interruptions  of  travel 
as  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 

The  already  enumerated  advantages  to  the  city  of  this  im- 
provement, relieving  as  it  does  such  necessities,  and  the  especial 
conveniences  at  this  time  for  doing  it,  all  point  toward  the  adop- 
tion of  such  a  scheme,  and  personally  I  ask  the  Park  Department 
to  give  it  careful  consideration  and  thereby  give  to  New  York 
the  finest  driveway  in  the  world. 

MICHAEL  COLEMAN, 
President  of  the  Tax  Department. 


LAWSON  N.  FULLER  ENTHUSIASTIC. 


HE  SAYS  THE  SCHEME  ISA  MAGNIFICENT  ONE  AND  IS  DEMANDED 
BY  THE  CITY'S  GROWTH. 

Lawson  N.  Fuller  is  naturally  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  ad- 
vocates of  Mr.  Sweeny's  project.  For  many  years  Mr.  Fuller  has 
been  an  eloquent  and  energetic  promoter  of  all  sorts  of  west  side 
improvements.  He  was  as  eloquent  as  ever  when  I  asked  him 
what  he  thought  of  Mr.  Sweeny's  idea. 

"Why,  sir,"  he  exclaimed,  "it's  grand!  it's  glorious  !  You 
can't  make  me  say  anything  too  strong  in  favor  of  it.  I've  wanted, 
for  years,  to  see  just  such  a  scheme  carried  out.  I've  talked  im- 
provements on  the  west  side  of  Riverside  Park  so  much,  and 
urged  the  establishment  of  a  great  riding  and  driving  plaza  up 
that  way  so  long,  that  the  subject  is  familiar  to  me  in  all  its 
details. 

"  Yes,  sir  ;  Mr.  Sweeny's  project  is  entirely  feasible.  It's  the 
most  magnificent  suggestion  yet  made.  There  isn't  the  slightest 
objection  to  it.    It  is  splendid.    I  haven't  the  least  hesitation  in 


34 


saying  that  such  a  terrace  for  riding  and  driving  would  be  a 
greater  source  of  innocent  amusement  for  the  people  than  all 
the  attractions  in  Central  Park  put  together.  Take  that  down  ! 
A  greater  source  of  innocent  amusement,  sir,  than  all  the  attrac- 
tions in  the  park  put  together  ! 

"Why,  think  of  it  a  minute  !  Think  what  healthful  and  ex- 
hilarating exercise  horseback  riding  is,  and  how  little  chance 
there  is  for  it  in  this  great  metropolis.  Think  how  few  people 
ever  get  an  opportunity  even  to  see  that  noble  animal,  the  horse, 
at  his  best.  Outside  of  the  race  tracks,  with  all  their  evils  of 
bookmaking  and  trickery,  there  is  no  popular  exhibition  of 
horsemanship. 

"  And  why?  Solely  because  there  is  no  suitable  place  to  speed 
high  bred  and  valuable  horses." 

GREAT  POPULAR  EXHIBPITONS. 

"  Imagine  Sunol  or  Axtell  or  Maud  S.  or  any  of  the  famous 
flyers  taken  for  an  outing  some  afternoon  on  the  beautiful  terrace 
that  Mr.  Sweeny  contemplates.  Why,  sir,  25,000  persons  would 
turn  out  to  see  the  noble  animal.  And  without  a  cent  to  pay, 
without  any  of  the  jugglery  of  the  race  course,  with  only  inno- 
cent pleasure  in  the  graceful  motions  of  the  intelligent  beast. 
Wouldn't  it  be  delightful?  Wouldn't  the  children  clap  their 
hands  with  pleasure  and  older  folks  enjoy  the  treat  ? 

"  And  such  horses  as  the  ones  I  have  named  would  be  driven 
on  the  terrace  frequently.  The  only  reason  their  owners  don't 
take  them  out  more  now  is  that,  as  I  have  said,  there  is  no  place 
within  easy  reach  where  such  high  priced  animals  can  be  driven 
with  safety.  Mr.  Bonner  is  not  going  to  run  the  risk  of  having 
Maud  S.  cast  a  shoe  or  sprain  an  ankle  on  a  rough  and  uncertain 
road.  No  one  can  blame  him.  It  would  be  a  reckless  and  cruel 
way  of  treating  one  of  the  finest  animals  that  ever  lived,  let  alone 
the  great  loss  to  him  financially  should  the  peerless  mare  be  dis- 
abled. But  on  the  splendid  and  well  kept  terrace  from  72d  street 
to  98th  street,  with  its  two  and  one-half  miles  of  level  roadway, 
Maud  S.  or  any  other  horse  could  be  driven  at  high  speed  with 
the  utmost  safety. 

"  And  then  think  of  the  benefit  to  the  people  of  such  a  ren- 
dezvous.   Rich  and  poor,  young  and  old,  could  meet  there  and 


35 


each  enjoy  himself  in  his  own  way,  while  mutual  education 
would  result  to  the  classes  from  the  unconscious  comparison  of 
conditions. 

"  Oh,  I  could  go  on  indefinitely  in  praise  of  this  grand  scheme. 
We'll  have  it  sometime.  We've  got  to  have  it,  and  with 
Mr.  Sweeny's  admirable  idea,  as  promulgated  through  the 
Herald,  for  a  definite,  tangible  point  of  departure,  it  ought  not 
to  be  long  before  the  splendid  dream  becomes  a  magnificent 
reality. 

EXPENSE  XO  OBJECT. 

"Obstacles?  Xo,  sir;  I  tell  you  there  are  none.  The  only 
possible  question  that  could  be  raised  is  one  of  expense,  but  that 
is  no  obstacle.  The  west  side  terrace  wouldn't  take  a  dollar  out 
of  the  people's  pockets  ;  for  every  dollar  spent  ten  would  be 
returned.  By  the  method  which  Mr.  Sweeny  suggests  the  whole 
original  cost  could  be  carried  through  small  interest  bearing 
bonds,  and  the  increased  valuation  of  property  would  more  than 
offset  this  expense. 

"  Why,  sir,  I  know  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
would  be  added  to  the  value  of  property  by  the  building  of  such 
a  terrace.  I  know  it.  Then,  too,  a  great  deal  of  capital  would 
be  brought  to  the  city  in  horseflesh,  increased  demands  for  car- 
riages and  all  that — hundreds  of  thousands  more — to  say  nothing 
of  the  advantages  to  the  health  of  the  people  as  well  as  their 
pleasure  from  the  inevitable  growth  of  horseback  exercise.  In 
the  last  five  years,  with  only  the  narrow,  winding  bridle  paths  of 
Central  Park,  see  how  the  pastime  has  increased.  It  would 
increase  ten  times  over  with  the  great  terrace. 

"  Oh,  we've  got  to  have  that  terrace  !  Mr.  Sweeny  has  started 
the  ball  a-rolling  and  the  Herald  must  keep  it  going.  It  won't 
be  long  before  the  public  and  their  servants  in  official  life  see  the 
beauties  of  the  project.  Once  seen,  the  thing's  done — the  ter- 
race is  a  certainty  ! " 


(New  York  Herald,  August  5,  1890.) 


THE  HUDSON  DRIVEWAY  A  PUBLIC 
DEMAND. 


The  Proposed  Riverside  Park  Exterior  Improvement 
Will  be  Brought  Before  the  next  Legislative 
Session — Municipal  Authorities  Enthusiastic — Com- 
missioner Coleman  Believes  the  Completion  of  His 
Plans  Will  Not  Cost  the  City  More  than  Five 
Million  Dollars. 


There  need  be  no  fear  on  the  part  of  the  persons  who  are 
interested  in  improving  the  Western  side  of  the  city  by  the 
erection  of  a  viaduct  along  the  river  front  that  their  ideas  will 
not  be  fully  discussed.  Most  of  New  York  was  talking  yesterday 
of  the  magnificent  plans  of  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny,  as  described 
exclusively  in  Sunday's  Herald.  And  there  seemed  to  be  no 
objectors.  At  least  I  found  none  who  were  at  all  familiar  with 
the  necessities  of  the  west  side  of  the  city. 

But  this  approval  was  by  no  means  confined  to  citizens  who 
were  merely  interested  in  the  improvement  of  their  own  property. 
The  heads  of  the  municipal  departments  regarded  the  project 
with  more  than  favor — it  might  be  almost  said  with  enthusiasm. 
They  all  agreed  that  the  plans  as  explained  by  the  Herald  were 
magnificent.  It  is  true  that  they  spoke  of  the  cost  as  the  one 
thing  which  would  probably  stand  in  the  way  of  a  popular  sup- 
port, but  this  reservation  was  acknowledged  to  be  unwarranted 
by  any  careful  consideration  of  the  project.  So  general  was  the 
pleasure  with  which  the  exterior  drive  proposition  was  received 
that  persons  may  safely  look  forward  to  see  a  well  organized 
movement  take  life  for  its  accomplishment  next  autumn. 

The  next  session  of  the  Legislature  will  undoubtedly  be 
requested  to  act  upon  the  matter  and  authorize  the  city  to  go 
ahead  and  improve  itself. 

36 


37 


COMPTROLLER    MYERS  APPROVES* 

Mayor  Grant  is  not  inclined,  as  a  rule,  to  express  his  opinion 
concerning  any  city  improvement  which  is  still  merely  in  the 
nebulous  stage  of  development,  and  so  he  declined  to  discuss  the 
matter  yesterday,  save  to  say  that  the  project  would  have  to  be 
approved  by  the  Legislature  before  the  local  authorities  could 
take  any  action ;  but  the  Mayor  has  so  often  expressed  himself 
concerning  the  advisability  of  providing  additional  means  of 
recreation  for  the  people  that  his  hesitancy  concerning  the  River- 
side Park  exterior  drive  may  be  correctly  attributed  entirely  to 
official  caution. 

Comptroller  Myers,  however,  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  at 
once  that  the  scheme  was  not  alone  feasible,  but  that  it  would  be 
a  magnificent  addition  to  the  city's  attractions. 

"The  main  thing,  of  course,  to  consider,"  he  added,  "is  the 
expense.  I  believe  that  the  exterior  drive,  according  to  the 
Herald's  illustration  last  Sunday,  would  be  very  costly,  and  we 
must  be  very  careful  that  we  do  not  get  too  near  our  consti- 
tutional limit  of  indebtedness.  Of  course  for  such  an  improve- 
ment the  whole  city  would  have  to  be  taxed,  and  this  might 
arouse  some  opposition,  and  then  would  come  in  the  structural 
difficulties  of  the  enterprise.  To  tunnel  over  the  tracks  of  the 
New  York  Central  Railway  would  cost  a  good  deal  of  money,  and 
we  might  arouse  a  very  serious  opposition  from  that  corporation, 
too,  which  might  object  to  have  its  light  and  air  and  access 
interfered  with. 

I  am,  however,  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  idea.  It  opens  up 
the  most  splendid  possibilities,  for  in  time  it  might  be  extended 
around  the  head  of  the  island  and  so  connect  with  the  exterior 
drive  which  has  been  already  planned  along  the  shore  of  the 
Harlem  River,  north  of  the  Central  Bridge.  There  you  would 
have  the  most  magnificent  roadway  in  the  world. 

"  The  necessary  progression  for  this  matter  to  take  would  be 
to  bring  it  before  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  upon 
the  passage  of  the  bill  to  carry  it  through  the  Board  of  Street 
Openings  and  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  I  do 
not  know  how  the  city  officials  would  regard  the  matter  as  a  body 
when  it  was  before  the  Legislature  ;  whether  or  not  they  would 
advocate  the  passage  of  the  bill.    That  would  depend,  of  course, 


38 


upon  the  amount  of  popular  approval  that  was  manifested.  I 
think  that  the  city  authorities  are  anxious  to  improve  the  city  in 
any  way  they  can  legally  do." 

COMMISSIONERS  POST   AND  GILROY  APPROVE. 

When  the  opinion  of  Commissioner  Post,  of  the  Department  of 
Docks,  was  asked,  he  said  that  he  too  approved  of  the  scheme, 
though  he  had  not  given  the  subject  sufficiently  careful  attention 
to  speak  officially  about  it. 

"There is  one  thing  which  must  be  considered,"  he  continued. 
"  The  river  along  the  territory  proposed  to  receive  the  improve- 
ment is  very  deep.  It  ranges  at  the  bulkhead  line,  between 
Seventy-second  street  and  125th  street,  all  the  way  from  eighty 
feet  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet.  At  once  the  problem 
arises  of  how  far  the  exterior  confining  wall  of  the  viaduct  shall 
go  out  into  the  river.  Of  course,  to  build  a  wall  strong  enough 
to  answer  the  necessities  of  this  splendid  plan  in  water  as  deep  as 
I  have  mentioned  would  mean  a  colossal  outlay  of  the  city's 
money.  Anything  done  of  that  description  would  have  to  be  ex- 
ceptionally well  done.  If,  however,  it  is  proposed  to  go  out  only 
to  the  low  water  mark  the  cost  could  be  very  materially  lessened. 
The  plan  would  certainly  improve  the  city  to  a  very  marked 
degree  and  would  be  of  immense  advantage  to  that  particular 
part  of  the  island." 

Commissioner  (xilroy,  of  the  Public  Works  Department,  was 
enthusiastic  about  the  driveway.    He  said: 

"  I  regard  the  scheme  as  magnificent,  and  if  it  can  be  carried 
out  it  should  be  done.  The  question  has  been  raised  whether  or 
not  the  New  York  Central  would  interpose  an  objection,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  this  city  has  reached  a  stage  of  development 
that  will  enable  it  to  improve  itself  despite  what  the  New  York 
Central  or  any  other  corporation  says. 

"The  completion  of  the  driveway  will  be  costly,  no  doubt,  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  city  can  afford  to  make  herself  beautiful 
and  add  to  the  comfort  and  pleasure  of  her  citizens.  You  know, 
of  course,  that  there  is  now  building  an  exterior  driveway  along 
the  East  River  front,  the  road  being  fifty  feet  in  width  and  the 
bulkhead  sixty-five  feet  additional.  With  this  115  feet  of  space 
the  people  of  the  east  side  will  have  no  reason  to  complain  if  the 
people  of  the  west  side  be  given  similar  advantages.  Of  course, 
the  east  side  improvements  will  be  occupied  mainly  for  commer- 


39 


cial  purposes.  The  increase  of  wharfage  which  will  be  coincident 
with  the  Hell  Gate  improvements  will  bring  vessels  of  all  classes 
up  there  and  with  them  will  appear  factories  and  other  places  of 
employment,  convenient  to  the  great  population  of  artisans  on 
that  side  of  the  city.* 

NECESSARY  TO  THE  FUTURE    OF  THE  WEST  SIDE. 

.  "  As  to  the  future  of  the  west  side  of  the  city,  so  far  as  its  re- 
maining a  purely  residential  district  is  concerned,  I  believe  it  is 
dependent  upon  some  improvement  of  the  general  character  pro- 
posed. Unless  such  a  scheme  as  this  is  carried  out,  the  water 
front  along  the  North  Kiver  will  be  devoted  to  factories,  and  not 
alone  will  the  usefulness  of  Riverside  Park  be  seriously  impaired, 
but  the  advantages  of  the  West  End  will  be  considerably  lessened. 
AVith  this  driveway  as  a  starting  point,  its  extension  would  be 
required  as  the  city  developed  and  the  demands  for  it  increased. 

"  Concerning  the  cost  of  this  improvement,  I,  of  course,  know 
nothing.  To  speak  intelligently  about  such  matters,  one  must 
have  given  careful  consideration  to  the  necessities  of  every  aspect 
of  the  question.  Such  a  thing,  I,  of  course,  have  not  done. 
The  scheme  certainly  should  receive  the  approval  of  every  one 
whose  wish  is  to  beautify  the  city." 

Perhaps  next  to  Mr.  Sweeny  himself  there  is  no  one  who  is  so 
enthusiastically  in  favor  of  the  exterior  drive  as  Commissioner 
Michael  Coleman,  president  of  the  Tax  Department.  I  chatted 
with  him  yesterday  concerning  the  probable  cost  of  the  drive. 
He  has  given  careful  thought  to  the  matter,  and  has  had  prepared 
plans  of  his  own  which  differ  from  Air.  Sweeny's,  as  was  shown 
by  the  illustration  in  yesterday's  Herald. 

"I  believe,"  Air.  Coleman  said,  "that  the  plans  for  this 
exterior  driveway,  viaduct  and  general  improvement  of  Riverside 
Park  could  be  carried  out  for  between  $4,000,000  and  $5,000,000. 
This  estimate  is  based  upon  the  possibility  of  not  being  com- 
pelled to  pay  great  prices  for  condemned  property  along  the  river 
front.  But  this  property  is  not  valuable.  I  have  made  inquiries 
recently,  and  find  that  the  owners  regard  it  as  very  nearly  worth- 
less, mainly  because  their  communication  with  the  rest  of  the 

*  Nearly  three  millions  of  dollars  are  being  expended  for  the  improvement  of  the  Riverside 
at  the  "East  End''  of  the  city  by  building  an  exterior  street  and  dock  on  the  East  River  from 
Forty-ninth  street  to  Eighty-first  street.  ~  That  part  of  the  improvement  alone,  from  Sixty- 
fourth  street  to  Eighty-first  street,  being  estimated  to  cost  $1,645,190.50.  See  report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Public  Works  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  dated  July  1st. 
1890.  Certainly  the  easterly  Riverside  is  being  liberally  taken  care  of  by  the  municipal 
authorities. 


40 


city  is  so  restricted.  My  plans  are  not  so  elaborate  as  those  of 
Mr.  Sweeny's,  and  do  not  contemplate  any  subsidiary  exterior 
avenue  along  the  water  front.  If  we  should  have  to  give  up  the 
idea  of  the  purchase  of  riparian  rights  then  the  necessity  for  this 
water  avenue  would  increase,  very  greatly,  the  cost  of  the 
improvement. 

mr.  colbman's  elaborated  idea. 

"  But  I  do  not  think  we  should  have  any  trouble  in  that 
direction.  The  reproduction  of  my  sketch  of  the  road,  which 
appeared  in  this  morning's  Herald,  only  gave  a  transverse  view. 
A  longitudinal  view  would  show  that  the  roadway  is  supported 
on  a  true  viaduct  and  not  upon  a  closed  tunnel.  The  water  side 
of  the  wall  would  be  a  succession  of  arches  which  would  admit 
light  and  air  to  the  trains  and  afford  the  trains  even  better 
facilities  than  they  now  have  for  the  movement  of  cars  and  their 
loading  and  unloading.  So  while  the  trains  would  be  entirely 
invisible  to  persons  in  or  about  the  park  they  would  be  clearly 
seen  from  the  river. 

"  Another  advantage  of  this  would  be  a  great  lessening  of  the 
cost  of  the  structure  as  well  as  giving  the  view  from  the  river  a 
much  greater  lightness  of  effect.  It  should  not  be  necessary  to 
assess  the  property  owners'  of  the  West  End,  who  would  most 
greatly  benefit  by  this  improvement,  more  than  one-half  of  its 
total  cost.  The  remainder  should  be  borne  by  the  city,  because 
the  work  would  be  a  municipal  improvement  of  a  general  value. 
The  money  could  be  raised  by  bonds  bearing  three  per  cent, 
interest,  and  so  far  as  adding  to  the  tax  rate  is  concerned  the 
citizens  would  not  be  aware  of  the  difference. 

"  The  situation  of  the  proposed  driveway  is  immensely  in  favor 
of  its  cheapness.  All  contractors  will  tell  you  that  the  greatest 
item  of  cost  in  any  undertaking  is  the  cost  of  labor.  Here  there 
would  be  no  time  lost  in  getting  to  work,  in  transporting  material, 
in  placing  men  at  their  various  duties.  The  work  would  be  in 
the  open  air  and  full  light.  So  far  as  stone  is  concerned  there  is 
none  available  at  that  locality,  but  you  remember  that  there  is  to 
be  a  viaduct  built  at  Central  Bridge  across  the  Harlem  to  connect 
with  the  Washington  Heights  bluff.  There  will  be  lots  of  stone 
taken  from  the  blastings  there.  It  has  been  a  serious  question 
what  the  city  could  do  with  it.  Well,  here's  a  chance.  Use  it 
for  the  viaduct  for  the  Riverside  Park's  exterior  driveway." 


(New  York  Herald,  August  6,  1890.) 


NEW  YORK  MUST  HAVE  THAT  HUDSON 
DRIVEWAY. 


It  Will  Not  Be  Necessary  to  Secure  Special  Legislative 
Action  in  the  Matter — Ample  Powers  Already. — 
Russell  Sage  Tells  What  He  and  Other  Owners  of 
Fast  Horses  Think  of  Peter  B.  Sweeny's  Project. 


Peter  B.  Sweeny's  project  for  a  terraced  or  viaduct  driveway 
on  the  easterly  bank  of  the  Hudson,  at  Riverside  Park,  continues 
to  meet  with  popular  approval,  and  various  communications 
commending  it  have  been  received  by  the  Herald,  which  first 
conveyed  information  of  the  magnificent  scheme  to  the  people  at 
large. 

W.  E.  D.  Stokes,  in  a  letter  dated  Monday,  after  referring  to 
the  fact  that  nearly  every  one  is  in  favor  of  the  project,  makes 
the  suggestion  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  apply  to  the  Legis- 
lature for  special  authority  to  carry  out  the  proposed  measure. 

He  says  that  Chapter  320  of  the  Laws  of  1887  gives  full  power 
to  the  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement  to  locate  and 
lay  out  such  a  park  or  driveway  as  that  proposed,  to  acquire  title 
to  such  land  as  may  be  required  for  the  purpose,  to  take  posses- 
sion, through  the  Department  of  Parks,  and  improve  the  property 
and  to  determine  what  proportion  of  the  expense  shall  be  assessed, 
upon  the  property  in  the  neighborhood  and  what  proportion 
shall  be  paid  by  the  city.  It  also  provides  for  the  issue  of  funds 
for  the  payment  of  damages  and  the  construction  and  mainten- 
ance of  the  driveway.  The  Consolidation  Act  of  1882,  Section 
955,  as  amended  by  Chapter  320  of  the  Laws  of  1887,  gives  all 
the  additional  powers  that  are  required. 

GOOD  WORK  BY  THE   "  HERALD." 

This  being  so  the  situation  is  greatly  simplified,  and  compara- 
tively little  trouble  should  be  experienced  in  carrying  the  pro- 
posed undertaking  to  completion.    The  Board  of  Street  Opening 

41 


42 


and  Improvement  is  composed  of  the  Mayor,  Comptroller,  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Works,  the  president  of  the  Park  Commis- 
sion and  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Urging  the  Herald  to  pursue  the  good  work  it  has  undertaken, 
Mr.  Stokes  suggests  that,  inasmuch  as  a  tunnel  over  the  tracks 
of  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company, 
as  proposed  in  Mr.  Sweeny's  plan  for  the  driveway,  would  be 
expensive  and,  perhaps,  to  a  certain  extent  impracticable,  the 
location  of  the  driveway  be  somewhat  changed.    He  says  : 

"  I  would  suggest  that  Twelfth  avenue,  now  laid  out  alongside 
and  west  of  the  railroad  property  line  and  seventy-five  feet  in 
width,  be  preserved  ;  that  between  it  and  the  bulkhead  line  the 
whole  width  be  taken  for  the  new  water  park  and  drive,  and  that 
all  use  of  the  property  west  of  the  proposed  park  for  any  business 
use  be  abandoned,  so  that  the  outer  wall  of  the  drive  shall  rise 
directly  from  the  river,  as  is  the  case  with  the  bulkhead  wall  at 
the  Battery.  To  make  the  requisite  width  for  this  series  of 
drives,  roads  and  paths,  say  200  feet,  a  new  bulkhead  line,  far- 
ther out  in  the  river,  must  be  established.  The  present  line,  es- 
tablished in  1868,  does  not  extend  far  enough  into  the  river,  nor 
does  it  afford  a  park  spaoe  of  even  width. 

"  Upon  the  area  lying  between  the  present  Twelfth  avenue 
and  the  exterior  or  river  line,"  continued  Mr.  Stokes,  "an 
elevated  park  should  be  built,  high  enough  to  permit  arches 
under  it  where  required  for  landings  and  ferries.  It  could  be  con- 
nected with  Riverside  Park,  over  the  railroad  and  avenue,  by 
occasional  arches  and  bridges.  Its  surface  could  be  divided  into  a 
sea  walk,  with  platforms  and  drives  and  roads,  and  its  eastern 
border  planted  with  trees  and  shrubbery  to  serve  as  a  screen  for 
the  smoke  and  noise  of  the  railroads." 

RUSSELL  SAGE  IS  HEARTILY  IX  FAVOR. 

Mr.  Stokes,  it  will  be  seen,  modifies  Mr.  Sweeny's  plans  in  cer- 
tain particulars,  but  it  is  with  him  merely  a  question  of  means 
and  adaptability  of  location  for  carrying  out  the  proposed  great 
public  improvement  which  Mr.  Sweeny  has  conceived.  He  re- 
peats in  the  concluding  paragraph  of  his  communication  that  he 
merely  offers  a  suggestion. 

Mr.  Russell  Sage,  who,  by  the  way,  is  almost  as  great  a  lover  of 


43 


the  horse  as  he  is  an  adept  at  the  business  of  "puts"  and 
"calls"  and  the  cutting  of  Manhattan  and  other  railway 
coupons,  said  when  I  questioned  him  yesterday  concerning  Mr. 
Sweeny's  project  : 

"  In  favor  of  a  driveway  there?  Of  course  I  am.  So  is  every 
man  who  owns  a  horse  in  this  city.  Why,  what  greater  pleasure 
could  a  man  have  than  driving  a  spirited  horse,  full  of  fire  and 
go,  over  a  fine  drive  such  as  that  can  be  made.  Xo  fear  of  acci- 
dents or  police  interference  then,  and  if  a  fellow  wanted  to  get  a 
little  speed  out  of  his  nag,  why,  he  could  get  it,  that's  all. 

"You  see,  we  fellows,  the  Vanderbilts  and  the  rest  of  us  who 
own  horses  and  don't  spend  all  our  time  in  Europe,  but  right 
here  on  Manhattan  Island,  find  our  chief  pleasure  in  driving. 
Some  of  us  own  pretty  good  animals,  too.  I  have  four  that  trot 
way  down — well,  in  the  'twenties.'  They're  dandies,  I  can  tell 
you,  and  I  ain't  obliged  to  take  any  man's  dust  if  I  don't  want 
to.    See  !"  and  Mr.  Sage  chuckled  gleefully. 

A  CHAXCE  TO  SPEED  FAST  HORSES. 

"  Well,  then,  if  we  like  to  speed  our  animals  now  and  then, 
and  in  such  a  splendid  place  as  that  drive  up  Eiverside  way  can 
be  made,  wouldn't  thousands  of  people  like  to  see  the  sport?  I 
tell  you  there  are  some  horses  that  would  be  seen  on  that  drive 
that  people  would  go  a  long  way  to  see. 

"  So  the  driveway  would  be  a  public  benefit  for  that  reason 
alone,  if  for  no  other.  It  would  be  a  daily  show,  free  to  every 
one,  and  without  any  bad  surroundings  either.  It  would  really 
be  much  more  sensible  to  go  to  see  it  than  pay  84  for  a  stall  in 
the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  to  hear  the  foreign  squealers. 

"Yes,  the  idea  is  an  excellent  one  and  I  hope  the  Herald  will 
keep  up  the  fight.  We — that  is,  the  taxpayers — will  stand  be- 
hind it  and  see  the  thing  through.  We  have  long  wanted  a 
Hudson  River  drive  and  we  are  going  to  have  it  now,  I  guess." 

Mr.  Sage  became  enthusiastic  at  this  point,  and  proceeded  to 
describe  the  pleasure  of  holding  the  lines  over  a  fast  nag  while 
putting  the  animal  through  its  paces.  It  was  like  an  electric 
shock,  he  declared,  to  feel  the  sudden  impulse  communicated 
through  the  veins  as  the  horse  responded  to  "  cluck  "  or  whip, 
and  I  left  the  famous  dealer  in  "  puts"  and  "  calls  "  with  the 
impression  that  if  once  the  Hudson  driveway  is  built  one  of  its 
most  constant  patrons  will  be  Russell  Sage. 


(New  York  Herald,  August  7,  1890.) 

MAYOR  GRANT  APPROVES  OF  THE  RIVER 

DRIVE. 

Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny's  Suggestions  Regarding  a  Terrace 
Along  the  Hudson  Should  Be  Considered  by  Citizens 
— Modifications  of  Proposed  Plans — It  Is  an  Improve- 
ment that  Will  Benefit  Property  Owners  and  Afford 
Pleasure  to  Citizens  Generally. 


As  more  consideration  is  given  the  subject,  the  greater  becomes 
the  desire  of  the  representative  men  of  the  city  to  see  the  idea 
of  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny  for  a  Hudson  Biver  drive,  as  expressed 
in  last  Sunday's  Herald,  carried  out.  The  necessity  for  an  exte- 
rior driveway  along  the  Hudson  and  above  the  tracks  of  the  Xew 
York  Central  and  Hudson  Biver  Railway,  from  Seventy-second 
street  to  Xinety-sixth  street,  is  acknowledged  on  every  side. 
Persons  are  beginning,  too,  to  express  wonder  that  tlvs  has  not 
been  done  before — that  it  was  not  included  in  the  plans  which 
were  adopted  for  the  improvement  of  Riverside  Park. 

It  is  not  often  that  Mayor  Grant  expresses  his  opinion  con- 
cerning the  advisability  of  a  city  improvement  with  as  much 
emphasis  as  he  used  when  conversing  with  me  yesterday  concern- 
ing this  proposed  Hudson  Biver  terrace.  But  he  was  not  deter- 
mined concerning  the  details  of  any  one  plan.  He  was  in  favor 
of  the  idea  of  such  an  improvement — he  was  in  favor  of  almost 
any  idea  which  would  lead  to  an  increase  of  the  charms  of  the 
city. 

Mayor  Grant  has  been  for  some  years  decidedly  in  favor  of 
some  such  avenue  as  has  been  proposed — some  place  where  own- 
ers of  valuable  horses  might  enjoy  their  property  and  where  the 
people  could  also  take  pleasure  in  seeing  the  beautiful  animals. 
He  has  aroused  considerable  newspaper  comment  and  criticism 
because  of  his  advocacy  of  the  building  of  some  sort  of  an  avenue 
which  could  be  partly  devoted  to  the  speeding  of  fast  horses. 
Concerning  Mr.  Sweeny's  proposition  he  said  yesterday  : 

44 


45 


MAYOR  GRANT'S  APPROVAL. 

"  When  I  was  first  spoken  to  on  this  subject  I  did  not  care  to 
express  an  opinion  for  the  reason  that  I  had  not  read  the  Herald 
article  carefully  nor  given  the  matter  the  consideration  it  de- 
serves. I  have  since  read  the  statements  which  it  made  and  am 
free  to  say  that  it  possesses  much  merit.  It  gives  evidence  of 
thought  and  broad  idea. 

"  Mr.  Sweeny  had  much  to  do  with  the  adornment  of  this  city 
by  beautifying  our  parks.  It  was  during  his  administration  as 
president  of  the  Park  Department  that  the  unsightly  fences  which 
formerly  surrounded  our  parks  were  taken  away,  and  during  his 
two  years  of  administration  he  did  more  to  beautify  our  city 
than  was  ever  done  before  or  since  in  the  same  time.  He  has 
traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  from  his  observations  in  the 
larger  cities  there  he  is  fully  capable  of  speaking  understand- 
ingly  on  this  subject. 

"  The  scheme  is,  as  I  understand  it,  to  not  alone  provide  for 
the  construction  of  a  gran  i  riding  and  driving  avenue  outside  of 
the  west  boundary  of  Riverside  Park,  but  also  to  preserve  the 
water  front,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  interference  with  the  de- 
mands of  commerce,  but  that  instead  the  latter  shall  be  bene- 
fited by  securing  such  outlets  to  the  arteries  of  traffic  as  the  topo- 
graphical possibilities  of  the  park  will  permit.  It  has  suggested 
itself  to  me  that  these  tranverse  roads  might  appear  at  conveni- 
ent intervals,  by  means  of  tunnels.  For  instance,  there  was  a 
very  marked  declivity  at  Eighty-sixth  street,  where  there  was  a 
bridge.  This  natural  ravine  might  have  been  taken  advantage 
of  for  one  of  these  roads.  Some  time  ago,  something  like  five 
years,  I  believe,  commissioners  were  appointed  to  condemn  the 
property  at  the  foot  of  Eighty-sixth  street  for  a  somewhat  sim- 
ilar plan  to  that  advocated  by  the  Herald.  I  do  not  remember 
that  these  commissioners  took  any  action. 

"  There  is  a  very  steep  declivity  in  the  grade  at  Ninety-sixth 
street,  and  while  I  believe  Mr.  Sweeny's  plan  does  not  contem- 
plate making  use  of  this  in  any  way,  still  I  fancy  the  exterior 
drive  might  be  continued  beyond  this  point.  A  light  suspension 
structure — a  thing  wholly  feasible,  I  think — might  be  thrown 
over  the  valley  so  as  to  keep  the  grade  up  and  avoid  the  traffic 
to  and  from  the  river,  which  could  pass  under  the  structure. 


46 


Then  the  bluff  at  Claremont  should  be  improved  ;  it  is  now 
nearly  tumbling  down.  It  seems  to  be  absolutely  necessary  that 
a  retaining  wall  should  be  built  there,  and  built  as  speedily  as 
possible.    The  continuance  of  that  bluff  demands  it. 

A  NEW  SUGGESTION". 

"The  thought  has  often  occurred  to  me,  when  riding  along, 
what  a  grand  place  the  high  point  of  rocks  at  Eighty-third  and 
Eighty-fourth  streets,  called  by  some  of  the  residents  Mount 
Tom,  would  be  on  which  to  erect  a  colossal  statue  of  Columbus, 
or  of  Fulton,  the  first  steam  navigator  of  our  glorious  Hudson. 
Columbus  might  have  a  statue  in  his  honor,  even  if  some  of  our 
friends  did  prevent  us  from  having  a  fair  here  in  commemora- 
tion of  his  discovery  of  this  continent. 

"Considering  the  means  of  how  to  best  secure  this  improve- 
ment, I  am  by  no  means  satisfied  that  the  Board  of  Street  Open- 
ing and  Improvement  has  the  power  to  carry  out  the  project 
unaided.  I  think  that  some  legislative  action  will  be  necessary. 
I  do  not  agree  with  W.  E.  D.  Stokes  that  the  west  wall  of  the  pro- 
posed driveway  should  rise  directly  from  the  river.  I  am  anxious 
to  jealously  guard  all  possibilities  of  commerce,  and  in  that  con- 
nection certainly  the  water  front  should  not  be  interfered  with. 
As  I  understand  Mr.  Sweeny's  plan,  it  is  to  secure  control  of  the 
water  front  and  improve  it,  aiding  in  its  development  by  means 
of  a  subsidiary  exterior  roadway,  which  could  be  used  by  heavy 
drays  and  the  like.    This,  to  my  mind,  is  a  wise  provision. 

"  I  am  in  favor  of  a  liberal  and  judicious  expenditure  of  pub- 
lic money  in  the  improvement  of  our  city,  and  of  course  of  not 
alone  adding  to  its  material  good,  but  making  it  more  beautiful. 
We  cannot  do  too  much  to  add  to  our  city's  charm,  and  certainly 
Mr.  Sweeny's  suggestions  should  receive  very  thorough  and 
careful  discussion. 

AN  IMPROVEMENT  FOR  EVERY  ONE. 

"On  the  whole  the  project  seems  feasible  and  commendatory, 
and  I  think  the  Herald  cannot  ventilate  it  too  much.  Our  citi- 
zens generally  should  look  into  the  matter.  The  opinions  and 
ideas  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Robert  Bonner,  Mr.  C.  N.  Bliss,  Mr. 
J.  H.  Starin,  Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Mr.  Nathan  Straus  and  Mr.  William  C.  Whitney  could  not  be 
but  valuable. 


47 


"  It  should  be  understood  that  this  improvement  is  not  only 
for  those  who  ride  and  drive,  but  for  the  pedestrian  as  well,  who, 
by  this  plan,  is  provided  with  an  opportunity  for  enjoying  the 
river  scenery  and  seeing  the  driving  as  well.  Provision  might 
also  be  made  for  the  accommodation  of  bicycles. 

"  The  rapid  growth  of  our  city  has  demonstrated  that  our 
park  roads  are  insufficient  in  width,  and  as  a  consequence  they 
are  overcrowded.  This  new  drive  and  ride,  if  built,  should  be 
built  with  that  liberality  which  the  future  of  our  city  demands. 

"The  whole  subject  is  well  worthy  of  all  the  thought  that  can 
be  given  to  it,  and  I  shall  take  early  opportunity  to  pursue  the 
subject  further.  I  intend  to  give  careful  consideration  to  the 
plans  and  details  as  prepared  by  Mr.  Sweeny  and  Mr.  Eidlitz, 
and  would  be  pleased  to  talk  to  the  Herald  again  on  the  sub- 
ject." 


[New  York  Herald,  August  8,  1890.1 


A  HUDSON  RIVER  DRIVE  DEMANDED  EOR 

SAFETY. 


Mr.  Nathan  Straus  Declares  the  Present  Roads  Above 
and  Below  the  Park  Dangerous  to  Horsemen— Im- 
provements SHOULD  BEGIN  AT  ONCE — SCORES  OF  UNRE- 
CORDED Accidents  would  be  Avoided  and  the  City 
would  be  Greatly  Beautified  by  the  Road. 


Now  tliat  there  is  some  prospect  that  many  citizens  who  enjoy 
driving  are  going  to  have  a  hearing,  and  that  respect  will  be 
shown  to  their  wishes,  they  are  ready  to  come  forward,  and  not 
alone  approve  of  the  idea  of  a  grand  Hudson  River  road  on  the 
west  side  of  Riverside  Park,  but  to  formally  demand  it. 

The  discussion  which  has  taken  place  in  the  Herald  has 
awakened  many  gentlemen,  who  vaguely  "believed"  that  some- 
thing as  has  been  suggested  should  be  done,  into  a  decisive  ac- 
tion in  the  matter.  The  scores  of  owners  of  valuable  horses 
who,  even  in  midsummer,  drive  up  the  road,  contemplate  send- 
ing a  petition  to  the  Mayor  asking  that  the  Board  of  Street 
Openings  and  Improvements  be  called  upon  to  take  necessary 
steps  to  make  the  Riverside  Park  improvements. 

Many  of  the  gentlemen  mentioned  by  Mayor  Grant  in  the 
Herald  yesterday  are  passing  the  warm  weather  at  their  country 
places  and  their  individual  approvals  o£  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny's 
suggestions  could  not  be  readily  ascertained.  But  I  am  in- 
formed by  persons  who  know  their  ideas  on  this  subject  that 
they  would  be  heartily  in  accord  with  any  plan  which  would  not 
alone  make  the  city  more  beautiful,  but  would  actually  give  it 
what  within  a  very  short  time  it  must  have — a  driveway  for  the 
use  of  men  who  own  blooded  animals  and  desire  to  enjoy  the 
possession. 


4!> 


NO  PLACE  FOR  VALUABLE  HORSES. 

One  of  the  gentlemen  named  by  the  Mayor  was  Mr.  Nathan 
Straus,  of  the  firm  of  R.  H.  Macy  &  Co.  Mr.  Strauss,  when 
asked  what  he  thought  of  the  exterior  drive,  replied  : 

f<  The  Herald  has  made  a  move  in  the  right  direction  here. 
The  proposed  improvement  would  be  of  immense  advantage  to 
the  people  and  I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  it.  But  leaving  out  all 
question  of  mere  picturesque  attractions  of  such  a  drive  as  is 
described  I  think  it  is  a  necessity  of  the  most  urgent  kind. 

"  New  York  is  in  no  sense  provided  with  driveways.  There 
is  excessive  danger  in  this  poverty — a  danger  which  the  people  of 
this  city  should  make  it  a  point  to  see  is  done  away  with.  I  am 
seriously  considering  the  advisability  of  selling  my  horses  be- 
cause there  is  no  place  near  where  I  can  drive  them  in  safety.  I 
do  not  think  I  ever  leave  my  stables  without  the  thought  that  I 
shall  be  lucky  if  I  come  back  without  experiencing  an  accident. 
Now  this  thing  is  all  wrong.  It  certainly  should  not  be  so.  It 
may  be  said  that  there  are  driveways  now.  My  answer  is  simply, 
Look  at  them  ! 

"  They  are  crowded  with  vehicles  of  all  sorts  ;  there  are  riders 
and  there  are  bicycles — all  upon  the  same  general  path.  The 
police  do  their  work  admirably,  but  it  is  a  physical  impossibility 
for  a  man  to  drive  a  four  foot  wagon  into  a  three  foot  space  with- 
out causing  a  collision.  It  certainly  is  not  his  fault — it  is  the 
fault  of  the  city  authorities  that  these  roads  were  not  made  wider 
and  that  more  of  them  were  not  laid  out.  Of  course  there  will 
be  frightened  horses  and  runaways  under  such  conditions.  These 
roads  are  bad  enough  on  week  days  during  the  Summer.  Of  a 
Sunday  I  should  no  more  think  of  risking  my  life  or  my  horses 
in  the  jam  that  appears  than  driving  in  front  of  a  battery  in  full 
operation. 

"  You  notice  accidents  recorded  in  the  newspapers  as  having 
occurred  along  the  various  roads  and  avenues  devoted  to  driving, 
yet  not  a  tithe  of  those  which  actually  occur  are  published. 
There  are  serious  mishaps  occurring  all  the  while  which  the 
public  never  hear  of.  Yes,  sir,  I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
HerakVs  suggestion,  and  when  they  take  official  shape  I  shall  do 
everything  in  my  power  to  help  the  scheme  along.  The  idea  is 
an  excellent  one  and  should  certainly  be  carried  out." 


50 


MR.   STARIN  AND  COLLECTOR  ERHARDT  APPROVE. 

Mr.  John  H.  Starin  has  been  ill  for  several  days,  and  when  he 
reached  his  office  yesterday  he  found  that  business  had  accumu- 
lated in  a  way  which  would  have  frightened  any  one  but  a  vet- 
eran, but  he  found  time  to  say  : 

"  Yes,  I  am  in  favor  of  the  exterior  driveway,  provided  it  can 
be  built  at  a  reasonable  expense,  as  Commissioner  Coleman 
thinks.  The  only  question  which  arises  is  whether  the  money 
necessary  to  make  this  improvement  could  not  be  spent  with 
greater  results  elsewhere." 

Collector  Erhardt  is  an  enthusiastic  horseman,  and  he  in- 
formed me  that  there  could  be  no  possibility  of  doubt  about  the 
advantages  of  the  exterior  avenue.  "I  think,"  he  went  on, 
"that  the  idea  is  an  excellent  one  and  should  be  perfected." 

"  But,"  I  suggested,  "some  persons  believe  that  such  a  drive- 
way should  be  located  in  some  much  more  northern  part  of  the 
city?" 

"Well,"  said  the  Collector,  in  response,  "there  is  no  reason 
why  this  Hudson  Kiver  avenue  should  not  be  extended  to  accom- 
modate the  wishes  of  those  persons.  There  clearly  is  no  place  in 
this  city  to-day  for  good  horses,  and  no  one  will  dispute  that 
there  should  be.  You  know  I  am  one  of  those  persons  who 
believe  that  the  extravagances  of  the  Tweed  time  were  no  evil 
because  the  improvements  were  made  ten  or  fifteen  years  ahead 
of  time.  That  improvements  of  a  sterling  character  were  made  at 
that  time  no  one  who  looks  at  New  York  to-day  will  doubt." 


(New  York  Herald,  August  9,  1890.) 

RIVERSIDE  DRIVEWAY  ALMOST  A 
CERTAINTY. 

The  Exterior  Avenue  Regarded  as  a  Necessity  for  the 
Preservation  of  the  City's  West  End — Claremont 
Needs  Attention — Mr.  George  S.  Lespinasse  Explains 
Why  He  Approves  of  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny's  Sugges- 
tion. 


While  the  discussion  in  the  Herald  concerning  the  grand  drive- 
way along  the  bank  of  the  Hudson  River  is  in  progress  the  work- 
ingmen  are  busy  building  the  retaining  wall  along  the  western 
border  of  Riverside  Park  as  it  now  extends  east  of  the  Hudson 
River  railway  tracks.  Delay  means  a  somewhat  useless  expendi- 
ture of  money,  for  should  it  be  decided  to  build  the  terrace  the 
present  work  need  not  in  any  such  degree  be  so  expensive.  It 
was  to  avoid  this  that  President  Coleman  made  his  report  to  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  which  was  published  in 
last  Monday's  Herald. 

Mayor  Grant,  in  his  recent  conversation  with  me,  referred  with 
much  sorrow  to  the  rapid  disintegration  of  the  bluff  which  is 
known  as  Claremont,  and  which  is  one  of  the  most  charming  vista 
points  on  Manhattan  Island.  I  visited  the  place  yesterday  and 
the  justness  of  the  Mayor's  remarks  was  only  too  evident.  There 
have  been,  within  the  last  eight  months,  many  feet  of  the  plateau 
lost  and  the  rough  breaks  of  the  ground  detract  very  markedly 
from  the  beauty  of  the  elevation  as  seen  from  the  river.  The 
Mayor's  statement  meets  with  the  enthusiastic  approval  of  the 
persons  to  whom  Claremont  is  a  source  of  pleasure  and  a  recrea- 
tion spot.  The  building  of  the  grand  driveway  would  inevitably 
mean  the  extension  of  it  above  96th  street  and  the  saving  of 
Claremont. 

THE  QUESTION  OF  COMMISSION. 

Persons  who  are  very  much  interested  in  Mr.  Sweeny's  idea 
have  taken  the  pains  to  have  brokers  inquire  from  persons  who 

51 


52 


own  water  front  rights  along  the  Hudson  from  72d  to  96th 
street,  what  they  value  their  property  at.  Not  being  aware  what 
the  object  of  the  inquiry  was,  the  owners  have  answered  very 
promptly  that  they  did  not  regard  their  riparian  rights  as  worth 
much,  if  anything,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  access.  Of  what 
uses,  they  declared,  is  a  pier  if  you  can  reach  it  only  by  means  of 
the  water? 

In  this  way  there  has  been  secured  a  quantity  of  interesting 
data  which  may  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  acquisition  of 
the  property  should  a  commission  be  appointed  to  condemn  such 
parts  of  the  river  front  whose  possession  is  not  vested  in  the  city. 
Of  course  the  testimony  of  experts  will  be  necessary,  in  fact  un- 
avoidable, but  in  connection  with  this  will  be  available  the 
actual  statements  by  property  owners  as  to  the  value  of  their 
rights. 

In  the  appointment  of  a  commission  I  am  informed  the  same 
procedure  may  be  adopted  as  was  carried  out  in  the  condemna- 
tion of  lands  along  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson  River  Railway 
tracks  for  the  improvement  of  Riverside  Park.  Such  a  commis- 
sion would  have,  I  am  told,  equal  rights  with  the  preceding  one, 
and  could  be  governed  to  a  very  large  extent  by  the  experience 
gained  by  the  latter  body.  The  acquiring  by  the  city  of  the 
property  along  the  river  front  would  effectually  prevent,  if  so 
ordered,  the  erection  of  any  buildings  of  an  objectionable  nature 
upon  the  piers  and  so  confine  the  use  of  the  latter  to  the  mere 
receiving  and  holding  of  goods,  intermediate  between  their  land- 
ing and  transportation.  In  this  way  the  park  could  be  continu- 
ously and  effectively  protected,  and  there  would  be  no  danger,  as 
there  is  at  present,  that  that  costly  improvement  of  the  west  side 
would  be  ruined  by  private  enterprises. 

MR.  LESPINASSE  IS  ENTHUSIASTIC. 

There  are  few  persons  who  are  better  informed  concerning 
west  side  property  than  George  S.  LesjDinasse,  of  the  real  estate 
firm  of  Lespinasse  &  Co.  I  had  an  interesting  conversation  with 
him  recently  concerning  the  proposed  driveway  and  what  it  would 
mean  to  the  AVest  End.    He  said  : 

e ■  There  is  of  course  not  the  faintest  shadow  of  doubt  that  the 
proposed  exterior  terraced  road  would  be  of  inestimable  benefit 
to  the  city.    Looking  at  it  purely  from  the  standpoint  of  an 


53 


improvement,  and  leaving  out  of  question  its  giving  to  a  vast 
number  of  our  prominent  men  chances  to  enjoy  themselves  with 
their  horseflesh,  the  thing  is  really  necessary  to  the  proper  de- 
velopment of  the  West  End. 

"  The  Herald  said  the  other  day,  with  great  truth,  that  private 
owners  of  the  water  front  would  certainly  have  it  in  their  power 
to  erect  all  sorts  of  objectionable  structures  on  their  property. 
Factories  do  not  consume  their  own  smoke  and  odors  and  cin- 
ders. The  prevailing  winds  of  this  city  are  either  westerly, 
northwesterly  or  southwesterly,  and  the  result  would  be  that 
Riverside  Park  would  no  longer  be  a  place  of  recreation,  but  a 
sort  of  tantalizing  middle  ground  which  looked  pretty,  but  was 
not  to  be  entered. 

"  I  know  what  this  building  of  factories  and  the  like  along  the 
river  front  means.  Some  little  time  ago  we  were  given  charge  of 
a  fine  piece  of  property  on  Washington  Heights  at  145th  street, 
•overlooking  the  river.  It  was  higher,  so  far  as  actual  site  was 
•concerned,  than  any  of  the  beautiful  houses  along  Eiverside 
Drive.  Well,  there  were  lots  of  persons  who  were  charmed  by 
the  location  and  an  equal  number  who  went  to  inspect  it.  Every 
time  we  took  any  one  out,  the  Manhattan  Iron  Works  at  the 
bottom  of  the  bluff,  then  in  full  operation,  would  send  their 
smoke  up  and  cause  the  expectant  purchasers  to  flee  for  salvation 
of  their  lungs.  What  was  the  case  up  there  will  be  certainly  the 
condition  at  the  Riverside  Park  front. 

((  Concerning-  the  assessment  of  the  property  owners  of  West 
End  I  don't  think  it  will  do.  I  don't  think  that  they  will  con- 
sent to  pay  one-half  of  the  cost.  The  improvement  would  be  one 
for  the  entire  city,  and  I  believe  that  the  assessment  lawyers 
could  lead  an  opposition  to  any  special  assessment  with  much 
success.    But  let  us  have  this  improvement  by  all  means." 

Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny,  who  has  been  following  the  discussion  of 
his  idea  very  carefully,  declares  that  he  will  reply  to  such  objec- 
tions as  have  been  made  within  a  very  short  time.  He  is  certain, 
he  says,  that  he  will  be  able  to  answer  them  satisfactorily. 


(New  York  Herald,  Augnst  11.  1890.) 

WHAT  RIVERSIDE  DRIVE  WOULD  COST  THE 

CITY. 


Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny  Estimates  that  $6,000,000  Would 
Amply  Coyer  the  Expense — A  Valuable  Suggestion — 
Let  Part  of  the  $10,000,000  Appropriated  for  the 
World's  Fair  be  used  for  this  Worthy  Purpose. 


The  proposition  of  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny  to  establish  a  riverside 
driveway  from  Seventy-second  to  Ninety-sixth  street  is  meeting 
with  more  popular  favor  every  day,  and  is  also  gaining  supporters 
among  prominent  officials.  When  I  saw  Mr.  Sweeny  yesterday 
he  said  the  scheme  was  growing  so  rapidly  and  gaining  strength 
so  fast  that  it  would  soon,  in  all  probability,  be  able  to  take  care 
of  itself. 

As  to  objections  that  have  been  urged  against  it  in  certain 
quarters  Mr.  Sweeny  said  : 

"  Mr.  Post,  the  Dock  Commissioner,  aware  that  in  certain 
localities  along  the  upper  shore  the  water  was  of  an  extreme  and 
costly  depth,  felt  called  upon  to  take  soundings  on  the  bank. 
The  average  depth  along  the  wrhole  line  from  Seventy- second  to 
Ninety-sixth  street  is  only  sixteen  feet.  This  is  not  formidable. 
W^hen  Mr.  Eidlitz  found  that  we  were  approaching  costly  depths  of 
water  and  expense  he  called  a  halt,  and  after  careful  conference 
we  adopted  a  plan  to  effect  the  most  economical  treatment  of 
the  question.  This  adaptation  has  handsomely  met  the  grades 
of  Riverside  Drive,  and  promises  a  most  harmonious  result. 

"  Along  the  water  front  which  we  treat  the  bottom  of  the 
river  is  firm  and  the  water  clean  and  clear  as  crystal,  unlike  the 
front  nearer  the  centre  of  the  city,  where  mud  abounds  to 
fathomless  depths  and  purulent  pollution  is  the  rule.  Mr.  Gil- 
more  and  Mr.  Myers,  while  quite  enthusiastic  on  the  general 
idea,  were  prudently  looking  to  the  cost,  and  the  Comptroller 
thought  we  ought  not  to  get  too  near  the  constitutional  limit  as 

54 


55 


to  incurring  debt.  They  will  see  that  they  take  an  exaggerated 
view  of  the  expense,  and  that  we  are  very  safe  on  the  financial 
question. 

ESTIMATE  OF  COST. 

"The  largest  item  of  cost  will  be  the  sea  wall  and  exterior 
avenue.  This  expense  properly  belongs  to  the  Dock  Depart- 
ment, and  we  are  only  briefly  anticipating,  for  the  purpose  of 
pressing  necessity,  what  will  be  inevitably  required.  The  total 
of  this  expenditure  will  be  $3,500,000  and  will  be  paid  by  a  loan 
redeemable  in  thirty  yearr,  during  which  period  the  revenues  of 
the  sinking  fund  will  amount  to  over  $300,000,000.  The  city 
will  have  as  the  result  a  mile  and  a  quarter  of  dockage  and  a 
handsome  exterior  street  of  the  same  length  for  all  the  business 
and  commercial  requirements  of  its  western  upper  section,  from 
which  in  time  the  returns  will  be  immense. 

"  The  total  cost  of  all  the  remainder  of  the  improvement — 
the  filling,  the  building  of  the  terrace  and  the  laying  out  of  the 
courses  and  walks  will  be  82,500,000.  This  will  include  every 
detail  of  expense  except  planting  with  trees  and  shrubbery,  as 
shown  on  the  plan,  which  latter  will  be  a  comparatively  small 
expense  to  the  Park  Department.  The  entire  filling  will  be 
about  1,800,000  cubic  yards,  and  although,  in  the  calculation,  a 
liberal  sum  is  allowed  for  it,  the  material  will  be  provided  in 
abundant  quantities  right  at  hand  and  at  a  moderate  expense. 

CAN  BE  DONE  IN  EIGHTEEN  MONTHS. 

"  I  think  the  whole  work  can  be  completed  in  a  year  and  a 
half  from  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  by  the  Legislature. 
There  need  not  be  any  delay  in  waiting  for  the  commission  which 
will  be  appointed  with  reference  to  that  part  of  the  land  required 
to  be  taken,  but  the  work  can  be  commenced  at  once,  as  the  city 
owns  the  water  right.  I  have  fixed  on  this  limited  time  because 
I  find  that  the  Harlem  Kailroad  Company  have  built  double  re- 
taining walls  four  miles  long  between  Fordham  and  Morrisania, 
in  the  midst  of  most  distracting  and  retarding  difficulties — such 
as  excavation,  shifting  of  the  tracks  and  the  like — and  this  work 
has  been  accomplished  inside  of  two  years. 

"This  is  practically  twice  as  much  retaining  wall  as  we  shall 
require.  This  work  on  the  Harlem  route  has  been  remarkably 
well  done  and  has  been  performed  speedily  by  building  in 
sections  and  meeting  at  both  ends.     I  think  the  cost  of  the 


50 


terrace  and  roads  and  walks  should  also  be  paid  by  the  city  in 
the  form  of  a  long  loan,  as  in  the  case  of  the  exterior  dock — to 
be  met  from  the  accumulations  of  the  sinking  fund — the  tax- 
payers being  only  required  to  defray  the  interest  at  the  present 
low  rates.  I  have  before  dilated  on  the  fair  proportions  of  the 
terrace,  nearly  three  hundred  feet  wide  and  of  such  grand  length, 
in  its  adaptability,  temporarily,  in  the  possible  future,  for  a 
world's  exposition,  and  its  opulent  capacity  to  enable  the 
people  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  witness  the  naval  parade 
of  1893. 

"  These  considerations,  and  the  massive  and  overwhelming 
one  that  the  improvement  is  for  the  entire  community,  should 
bar  the  idea  of  any  merely  local  charge.  The  twenty-fifth  sec- 
tion of  the  act  passed  last  Winter  in  regard  to  the  World's  Fair 
(Chapter  7,  Laws  of  1890)  provides,  among  other  things,  that 
'for  the  damages  awarded  and  expenses  incurred  upon  the 
acquisition  of  land  and  the  construction,  erection  and  furnishing 
of  buildings  thereon/  under  the  authority  of  the  act,  the  Comp- 
troller should  issue  stock  or  bonds  of  the  city,  payable  in  ten  to 
thirty  years,  in  the  usual  form,  not  exceeding  $10,000,000.  This 
provision  stands  unrepealed — as  an  unused  appropriation — and  I 
propose  that  a  portion  of  this  fund  be  applied  to  the  expense 
of  the  superb  embellishment  and  devotion  to  the  highest  practical 
usefulness  of  the  best  portion  of  the  water  front  of  this  great 
metropolis. 

THE  CITY'S  WEALTH. 

"Now,  as  to  the  constitutional  limit  of  indebtedness.  The 
provision  on  the  subject  prohibits  any  indebtedness  by  any 
county  or  city  of  over  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  which 
shall  exceed  ten  per  cent,  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  real 
estate  of  such  county  or  city  subject  to  taxation.  The  net 
amount  of  the  funded  indebtedness  of  the  city  on  the  first  day  of 
this  month  was  $97,567,516.44,  which  is  liable  to  be  reduced  to 
the  extent  of  the  accumulation  of  the  sinking  fund  to  date. 
You  see,  the  total  is  an  amount  which  the  revenues  of  the  sink- 
ing fund  and  their  annual  addition  would  wholly  pay  off  in  less 
than  ten  years.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  our 
city  for  this  year  is  $1,398,290,007,  which  allows  an  indebtedness 
of  $139,829,007.  This  gives  a  margin  of  $42,000,000— with  a 
$10,000,000  annual  sinking  fund — a  very  fair  amount  of  financial 
elbow  room." 


(New  York  Herald.  August  16,  1890.) 

THE  HUDSON  DRIVEWAY  PLEASES 
ROBERT  BONNER. 


Maud  S.'s  Master  Speaks  Enthusiastically  of  Mr. 
Sweeny's  Magnificent  Project — Such  an  Improve- 
ment a  Necessity — Mr.  Bonner  avould  not  take 
$10,000  and  speed  his  favorite  along  any  of  the 
Park's  Macadamized  Roads. 


The  discussion  concerning  the  proposed  exterior  driveway 
along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  from  72d  street  to  96th  street,  by 
means  of  a  terrace  west  of  the  New  York  Central  railroad  tracks, 
has  been  even' more  free  since  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny's  answers  to 
the  objections  which  were  made  against  his  scheme  than  it  was 
before.  The  subject  has,  as  is  well  known  to  the  Herald  readers, 
been  discussed  very  freely  by  the  various  heads  of  the  municipal 
departments,  hi  the  ordinary  order  of  affairs  it  must  very  soon 
come  before  one  of  the  boards  for  consideration,  and  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  within  a  few  days  Mr.  Sweeny's  magnificent 
project  will  be  given  officially  to  the  public. 

When  Mayor  Grant  comes  back  the  Board  of  Street  Openings 
and  Improvements  will  hold  a  meeting  and  the  question  whether 
or  not  they  have  the  power  to  take  decisive  action  in  regard  to 
this  improvement  will  no  doubt  be  informally  discussed.  The 
project  will  first  have  to  be  passed  upon  by  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Sinking  Fund  to  determine  just  how  far  the  city  may  yet 
go  in  incurring  indebtedness.  Then,  in  all  likelihood,  the  mat- 
ter will  be  taken  up  by  the  Board  of  Street  Openings  and  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  proceed  with  the  development  of  the  scheme. 

MR.  BONNER  ENTHUSIASTIC. 

Among  the  gentlemen  whose  approval  of  the  improvement, 
Mayor  Grant  said,  would  be  of  great  advantage  in  making  it 
possible,  was  Mr.  Robert  Bonner.    I  found  him  yesterday  in  his 

57 


58 


office,  exceedingly  enthusiastic  over  Mr.  Sweeny's  idea.  "The 
only  thing  which  I  can  see  against  it,"  said  Mr.  Bonner,  "  is  the 
possible  costliness.  It  would  be  a  mistake,  I  think,  if  the  city 
should  increase  its  present  liabilities  to  any  great  extent,  but  if 
the  driveway  can  be  built  at  a  reasonable  cost  I  am  decidedly  in 
favor  of  it.  Why  the  city  should  assign  a  bridle  path  to  horse- 
back riders  and  no  road  to  the  drivers  of  trotters  is  beyond  my 
comprehension.  The  trotting  horse  is  particularly  an  American 
institution,  and  the  only  reason  I  can  see  for  this  favoritism  to 
the  riders  is  that  their  pastime  is  '  English,  you  know/  Why 
New  York,  which  is  the  largest  city  in  the  country,  should  neg- 
lect, as  it  has  done,  to  provide  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
many  exceedingly  valuable  horses  that  are  owned  by  citizens  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find  out.  Why  should  horseback  riders  be 
given  privileges  which  are  denied  to  the  owners  of  valuable  trot- 
ters? We  represent  as  much  capital  as  they  do,  and  pay  as 
much  taxes,  and  we  want  a  chance  to  speed  our  horses  within  the 
city  limits.  Mr.  Sweeny's  plan  is  a  magnificent  one,  and  if  it  is 
as  feasible  as  Mr.  Sweeny  thinks  it  is  I  don't  think  that  there  is 
a  horseman  in  this  town  who  would  refuse  to  give  his  unqualified 
approval. 

A  NATIONAL  QUESTION. 

"  Besides  that  mere  question  of  accommodating  the  citizens 
here  a  question  of  national  importance  is  involved.  You  may 
take  owners  and  breeders  of  horses  all  over  the  country  and  they 
certainly  regard  New  York  as  their  chief  market.  Of  course  if 
New  Yorkers  are  prevented  from  using  their  horses  the  demand 
for  very  fast  trotters  will  decrease  so  that  the  market  will  be 
spoiled.  That  would  be  a  serious  loss  of  many  thousand  dollars 
annually  and  would  divert  the  trade  to  some  other  city.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  have  not  got  a  road  in  New  York  where  it 
would  be  safe  to  speed  a  valuable  animal  for  even  a  limited  dis- 
tance. The  Park  roads  are  too  hard.  I  wouldn't  take  $10,000 
and  speed  Maud  S.  a  mile  on  the  hard  macadamized  road  in  Cen- 
tral Park.    A  fine  horse  can't  stand  that  sort  of  road. 

"  The  absence  of  elasticity  in  the  roadbed  gives  all  their  finely 
strong  muscles  and  tendons  severe  shocks  at  every  step  they 
make.  I  don't  think  that  anything  in  the  way  of  driving  would, 
be  much  more  serious  than  the  effect  of  this  simple  speeding  on 


59 


such  drives.  Of  course  I  don't  mean  that  if  Maud  S.  were  driven 
a  mile  at  her  best  speed  upon  these  roads  it  would  necessarily 
ruin  her,  but  it  might  very  seriously  injure  her,  with  the  chances 
very  great  for  its  doing  so. 

GENERAL  INTEREST  IN  HORSEFLESH. 

"  What  we  want  is  an  earth  road,  where  the  shock  to  the  horse 
would  not  be  great — a  sort  of  compromise  roadbed  between  that 
given  by  the  macadam  pavement  and  the  ordinary  country  road. 
This  proposed  great  driveway  would  certainly  be  a  very  great  ad- 
vantage to  New  York.  There  are  a  largfi  number  of  persons  who 
come  to  this  city — clergymen  particularly — who  write  to  me  and 
ask  permission  to  call  upon  Maud  S.  This  would  show  how  very 
general  is  the  interest  which  Americans  take  in  fine  trotting 
horses.  Just  think  how  entertaining  it  would  be  for  persons  to 
go  up  along  the  supposed  drive  and  watch  the  great  horses  of  the 
country  speed  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

"  Even  now,  with  the  exceedingly  limited  facilities  for  ordinary 
driving  that  we  have,  how  great  is  the  curiosity  displayed  by  on- 
lookers along  the  Park  drive  and  the  upper  avenues  !  Why, 
when  I  am  out  driving  I  see  almost  every  person  whom  I  pass 
turn  around  and  observe,  '  There  goes  Maud  S. ! '  This  general 
interest  which  I  have  noticed  is  sometimes  subject  to  mistakes. 
For  instance,  I  bought  a  horse  about  a  year  ago,  which  is  the 
very  counterpart  of  Maud  S.,  but  which  is  a  gelding,  but  not- 
withstanding this  difference  when  I  drive  this  animal  I  hear  per- 
sons call  him  '  Maud  S.'  all  the  same.  This  very  morning  I 
drove  Maud  S.  around  the  Park  and  lots  of  people  stood  still  in 
their  tracks  and  watched  her  until  she  got  out  of  sight.  We 
must  have  a  public  drive  along  which  horses  like  Maud  S.  may 
be  driven,  and  horse  lovers  generally,  whether  they  own  horses 
or  not,  given  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  themselves. 

"  The  placing  of  this  driveway  along  the  Hudson  would,  I 
think,  be  more  advisable  than  apportioning  any  one  of  the  exist- 
ing driveways  to  the  purpose.  Our  island  is  so  narrow  that 
unless  we  get  some  place  for  our  horses  west  of  Central  Park  we 
can't  get  any  at  all.  I  have  thought  that  it  might  be  possible 
that  a  portion  of  one  of  the  boulevards  could  be  devoted  to  this 
purpose,  but  there  would  arise  the  trouble  of  crossing  the  boule- 
vard by  heavy  vehicles  and  by  pedestrians.      Mr.  Sweeny's  plan 

* 


60 


would  obviate  all  danger  of  this  kind,  because  the  road  would 
be  straight  away  and  all  transverse  traffic  would  be  otherwise 
provided  for. 

GO  WALK  ALONG  SEVENTH   AVENUE  AND  THINK. 

"  To  those  persons  who  question  the  popularity  of  watching 
the  drivers  of  fast  horses  and  their  animals,  it  need  only  be  nec- 
essary to  walk  along  Seventh  avenue  during  the  driving  hours 
and  become  converted.  The  crowds  are  greatest  on  Sundays,  I 
believe,  but  I  never  drive  on  Sundays.  I  never  did  but  once.  A 
parishioner  of  my  clergyman  some  time  ago  died  away  uptown 
over  Macomb's  Dam  Bridge.  It  happened  on  Sunday,  and  my 
clergyman  came  to  me  and  said  :  '  Mr.  Bonner,  how  do  you 
suppose  I  am  going  to  get  out  there? ' 

"I  was  aware  that  the  parishioner  and  his  family  were  very 
dear  to  my  minister,  and  I  knew  that  he  was  anxious  to  call  upon 
them  and  administer  all  the  consolation  that  he  could,  so  I  said  : 
'  Well,  Doctor,  I  will  get  a  closed  carriage  at  a  livery  stable  and 
we'll  go  up  there  together.'  So  we  did,  and  the  clergyman  was 
satisfied,  and  that  was  the  only  time  that  I  was  ever  driving  on 
Seventh  avenue  on  a  Sunday.  I  regarded  this,  however,  as  a 
case  of  necessity  and  my  conscience  did  not  trouble  me. 

"  Let  us  have  this  grand  driveway  if  it  is  possible  at  a  rea- 
sonable expense,  and  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  to  further  it 
when  the  scheme  assumes  a  definite  shape." 


i 


(New  York  Herald,  August  17,  1890.) 

SWEENY'S  DRIVEWAY  SCHEME 
INDORSED. 


Par-sighted  Citizens  Greatly  Interested  in  the  Project, 
Which  Would  Proye  a  Public  Boon — City  Officials 
Likely  to  Act — President  Coleman,  of  the  Tax  De- 
partment, Will  Support  the  Plan — The  Development 
of  the  Horse. 

The  interest  aroused  by  Peter  B.  Sweeny's  proposed  plan  for 
an  exterior  driveway  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  River,west  of 
the  Riverside  drive  and  the  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad,  continues  unabated.  Far  seeing  and  public  spirited 
citizens,  who  look  to  the  future  development  of  New  York  upon 
a  scale  of  magnificence  and  utility  never  before  attained  in  the 
history  of  a  modern  city,  are  enthusiastically  in  favor  of  the 
plan. 

The  views  of  these  men,  as  printed  in  the  Herald  from  day  to 
day,  have  had  the  effect  of  clearing  the  public  mind  of 
the  doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  the  plan  with  which  it  was  first 
viewed  by  citizens  who  had  not  thoroughly  considered  the 
subject  or  who  viewed  the  expenditure  of  the  necessary  money 
with  misgiving. 

That  the  subject  has  now  assumed  a  tangible  form  is  incontes- 
able,  and  that  it  will  be  considered  by  the  properly  constituted 
city  authorities  is  an  almost  assured  fact. 

Mr.  Sweeny,  who  was  in  the  city  on  Wednesday,  had  a  long 
conference  with  Mr.  Coleman,  president  of  the  Tax  Department. 
During  their  conversation  the  two  gentlemen  considered  the 
entire  subject  pro  and  con. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  while  Mr.  Coleman  was  heartily  in 
favor  of  the  proposed  exterior  driveway  he  differed  with  Mr. 
Sweeny  upon  some  of  the  minor  details  and  arrangements  as 
suggested  in  the  latter  gentleman's  plan. 

These  differences  were  entirely  in  connection  with  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad.  Mr. 
Sweeny's  idea  is  that  the  tracks  be  secluded  by  building  a  lofty 
wall  of  masonry  and  reducing  the  noise  made  by  the  locomotives 

61 


62 


and  the  escape  of  cinders  and  steam  by  planting  trees  and  shrub- 
bery along  the  crest  of  the  terrace  thus  created. 

Mr.  Coleman  was  in  favor  of  arching  the  tracks  upon  the  plan 
of  the  tunnel  along  Fourth  avenue. 

BOTH  NOW  OF  ONE  MIND. 

When  spoken  to  in  relation  to  the  conference  with  Mr.  Cole- 
man Mr.  Sweeny  said  : 

"  In  view  of  the  difficulties  and  expense  which  would  be  encoun- 
tered to  carry  out  Mr.  Coleman's  tunnel  scheme,  and  as  he  is  now 
convinced  that  our  plan  meets  a  much  wider  range  of  public 
requirement,  Mr.  Coleman  will  abandon  his  plan  for  ours.  The 
public  can  now  count  upon  his  zealous  and  influential  support  of 
the  measure  in  its  broadest  possible  scope." 

Mr.  Sweeny  was  much  interested  in  reading  the  views  of 
Robert  Bonner,  published  in  Saturday's  Herald. 

"Mr.  Bonner's  opinions,"  he  said,  "correspond  with  my  own 
in  every  particular.  The  elastic  roadbed  proposed  for  the  new 
driveway  and  the  increased  facilities  for  driving  and  riding  will 
be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  development  of  the  horse  and 
will  serve  the  purpose  of  prolonging  the  life  of  our  citizens,  living 
under  the  high  pressure  of  the  nineteenth  century." 

I  reminded  Mr.  Sweeny  that  he,  too,  had  promised  to  dwell 
upon  equine  development  as  one  of  the  topics  involved  in  his 
proposition  of  the  new  driveway. 

He  consented  to  do  so,  prefacing  his  remarks  by  saying 
that  the  "  honor  of  having  evolved  the  trotter  belongs  to  this 
side  of  the  ocean,"  and,  "  I  have  noticed  a  growing  tendency 
upon  the  part  of  our  best  men  to  cultivate  outdoor  equine  re- 
creation. 

$  4c  4c  *  4c  $  *  *  4: 

MR.   BONNER'S  HORSES. 

"  Such  is  the  regard  that  Mr.  Bonner  has  for  his  magnificent 
horses  that  his  feeling  toward  them  is  shown  in  every  detail  of 
their  lives,  and  he  says  that  he  would  not  speed  Maud  S.  a  mile 
on  the  hard,  macadamized  roads  of  Central  Park  for  $10,000. 

"  This  growing  tendency  for  outdoor  exercise — driving,  riding, 
walking,  participating  in  games  of  activity  and  other  kindred 
sports — threatens  to  weaken  the  long  maintained  thraldom  of 
club  life  in  our  cit) — clubs,  where  socalled  good  living  prevails, 


C3 


and  where  enjoyment  consists  of  cards  and  cocktails,  and  higher  or 
lower  gratification  of  the  senses,  which  sap  the  vitality  of  men. 

"  I  know  that  life  ought  not  to  be  an  eternal  grind,  but  the 
problem  is,  What  is  true  relaxation,  wise  recreation  ? 

"  If  any  one  is  suffering  from  ennui  during  any  part  of  his 
day  let  him  buy  a  good  horse  with  plenty  of  '  go  '  in  him  and  a 
safe  outfit.  Let  him  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  his  silent 
companion  and  take  to  the  road.  His  troubles  will  soon  be  at 
an  end."  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

OLD  TIME  EQUESTRIANS. 

In  speaking  of  equestrians  Mr.  Sweeny  said  :  "  When  Central 
Park  was  first  established  there  were  not  more  than  fifty  horse- 
back riders  in  the  whole  city.  They  were  nearly  all  lawyers, 
under  the  lead  of  David  Dudley  Field,  A.  Oakey  Hall,  William 
Curtis  Xoyes  and  Edwin  W.  Stoughton.  Mrs.  Stoughton,  the 
mother  of  Professor  Fiske,  was  an  indefatigable  rider,  too,  and 
could  be  seen  out  riding  in  the  early  morning  every  fair  day, 
without  fail." 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SHORE  LINE. 

I  saw  Mr.  Eidlitz,  whose  report,  published  in  the  Herald  at 
the  time  Mr.  Sweeny  first  gave  his  views  to  the  public,  formed 
a  valuable  addition  to  the  same.  I  remarked  that  he  had  not 
said  much  as  to  the  artistic  effect  of  the  contemplated  improve- 
ment. 

He  replied  as  follows  :  "  From  an  artistic  point  of  view  the 
shore  line  of  this  island  needs  and  deserves  treatment,  wherever 
commerce  permits  an  effort  in  that  direction. 

"  Here  is  presented  a  remarkable  opportunity,  of  which  the 
authorities  should  be  zealous  to  avail  themselves.  The  extension 
of  the  Park  lines  beyond  the  railroad  ;  the  introduction  of  a 
border  of  green  at  the  water's  edge,  managed  with  the  habitual 
skill  of  the  Park  Department ;  the  planting  out  of  the  disfigur- 
ing lines  of  the  railroad,  the  building  of  a  permanent  embank- 
ment— all  tend  to  the  aesthetic  development  of  the  shore  of  an 
island  of  great  natural  beauty  and  will  not  fail  of  appreciation 
by  executive  officials  and  a  community  so  capable  as  ours. 

"  In  England  a  Special  Board  of  Commissioners  is  intrusted 
with  the  preservation  and  care  of  the  natural  beauties  of  the  land 
contiguous  to  cities,  where  from  any  cause  its  face  is  in  danger  of 
being  marred.  The  work  is  performed  with  liberality  of  ex- 
penditure and  the  best  artistic  taste. 


64 


ARTISTIC  TASTE. 

"  Our  Central  Park,  our  Riverside  Drive  aud  Park,  our  Morn- 
ingside  Park,  attest,  more  than  mere  words  can  tell,  the  cultiva- 
tion and  generosity  of  our  people  and  the  sagacity  and  artistic 
proficiency  of  the  direction  in  our  departments. 

u  The  desirability  of  a  public  drive  of  the  description  projected 
by  Mr.  Sweeny,  also  of  an  equestrian  promenade,  are  matters  which 
have  heretofore  found  favorable  public  expression,  and  have  been 
urged  with  much  earnestness  by  eminent  citizens  for  a  consider- 
able period.  Indeed,  public  opinion  appears  to  be  quite  united 
and  decided  in  regard  to  them,  and  the  necessity  and  desire  will 
obviously  increase  with  the  growth  of  the  city.  The  subject  may 
be  considered  as  past  discussion.  But  I  may  be  permitted  to 
speak  with  something  like  enthusiasm  of  the  aesthetic  phase  of 
the  project,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  the  artistic  merits 
of  the  scheme  are  of  a  character  and  magnitude  to  command  the 
most  favorable  consideration  of  the  public  and  their  representa- 
tives." 


(New  York  Herald,  September  18,  1890.) 

The  Board  of  Estimate,  After  a  Lively  Discussion,  De- 
cides to  Make  Appropriations  To-Day — Riverside 
Driveway  — Tax  Commissioner  Coleman  Moves  the 
Appointment  of  a  Commission  to  Consider  Plans — 
Action  Deferred. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment after  the  vacation,  held  yesterday  in  the  Mayor's  office, 
proved  eventful  and  full  of  interest.  ******** 

THE  WEST  SIDE  DRIVEWAY. 

Tax  Commissioner  Coleman — who  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment — called  the  attention  of 
his  colleagues  to  the  necessity  of  improving  the  condition  of  the 
west  side  river  front  above  72d  street.  Many  prominent  persons, 
he  said,  had  suggested  plans  by  which  the  city  would  be  bene- 
fited in  point  of  beauty  and  comfort.  A  sea  wall  was  an  absolute 
necessity  to  that  region,  and  at  the  same  time  a  handsome  drive- 
way could  be  added  that  would  prove  a  great  attraction  to  the 
thousands  of  drivers  and  visitors  to  the  city.  The  plan  submit- 
ted by  Mr.  Coleman  is  contained  in  the  following  resolutions  : 


65 


Whereas  a  plan  has  been  presented  lor  tlie  improvement  of  the 
westerly  river  wide,  north  of  Seventy-second  street,  which  contem- 
plates the  building  of  a  sea  wall  or  bulkhead  from  Seventy-second 
street  to  Ninety-sixth  street ;  the  reclaiming  of  the  land  under  water 
and  the  establishment  along  its  entire  length,  ten  feet  above  tide- 
water, of  a  traffic  road  or  avenue  for  commercial  and  general  busi- 
ness purposes;  and  also  adjoining  the  said  avenue  the  construction 
of  an  elevated  place  or  terrace,  thirty  feet  above  tidewater  and  one 
mile  and  a  quarter  long,  under  which  the  intersecting  streets  can  be 
carried  by  double  arched  viaducts,  and  upon  which  a  perpetual  road 
for  unrestricted  driving  as  to  speed,  eighty  feet  wide,  is  to  be  con- 
structed, divided  so  as  to  admit  of  driving  in  different  directions; 
also  a  permanent  promenade  equestrian  road  at  least  fifty  leet  wide 
established,  together  with  adjoining  walks  for  the  accommodation 
of  pedestrians  and  lookers-on,  the  adjacent  railroad  tracks  to  be  se- 
cluded by  a  wall  sufficiently  high  and  by  trees  and  shrubbery 
artistically  planted,  the  terrace  being  connected  with  Riverside 
Drive  at  Seventy-second  street  and  Ninety-eighth  street,  and  forming 
a  circuit  relation  to  the  Central  Park.  And  whereas  Ave  regard  the 
objects  thus  proposed  to  be  accomplished  eminently  important  and 
desirable,  calculated  to  meet  long  pressing  and  meritorious  de- 
mands, to  relieve  in  a  most  agreeable  way  the  undue  pressure  on  the 
equestrian  roads  of  Central  Park  and  by  attracting  carriage  riding 
to  the  Riverside  Drive  to  diminish  the  excessive  crowding  of  the 
most  conveniently  situated  roads  of  that  park— in  addition  the  city 
will  practically  gain  over  fifty  acres  of  valuable  land,  and  not  only 
secure  the  ground  to  be  occupied  against  injurious  and  depreciating 
uses,  but  promote  in  a  most  unique  and  attractive  form  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  west  end  of  the  city,  which  has  been  so  remarkably  ad- 
vanced by  private  enterprise.  And  whereas  this  project  presents  a 
special  case,  involving  considerations  of  a  novel  and  important 
character,  affecting  largely  the  interests  of  the  whole  community, 
and  should  receive  exceptional  treatment  in  order  to  secure  the  best 
results;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  His  Honor  the  Mayor  be  and  lie  is  hereby  re- 
quested to  name  a  special  or  advisory  commission  of  citizens  to  in- 
formally consider  said  plan  and  any  other  that  may  be  presented  on 
the  subject  and  to  report  to  this  Board  a  project  which  will  in  their 
judgment  best  accomplish  the  above  contemplated  objects,  together 
with  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  cost  thereof,  with  the  view  to 
such  legislative  action  in  the  premises  as  may  be  necessary  to  con- 
summate the  measure  at  the  earliest  practicahle  period,  and  that 
His  Honor  the  Mayor  be  a  member  of  said  commission. 

Commissioner  Coleman  said  that  he  had  discussed  the  project 
fully  with  many  prominent  persons  and  found  them  all  enthusi- 
astic over  the  scheme.    He  had  kept  a  record  of  the  gentlemen 


66 


in  favor  of  the  city  taking  action  in  the  matter  and  making  the 
improvements  as  submitted  in  the  resolutions. 

The  Commissioner  handed  me  the  following  list  of  names,  from 
which  he  suggested  the  Mayor  might  select  his  commission  : 


Joseph  H.  Choate, 

The  other  members  of  the  Board  said  that  they  had  read  about 
the  proposed  driveway  in  the  Herald  and  thought  very  favorably 
of  the  scheme.  It  was  decided  to  defer  the  subject  for  further 
consideration. 


THE  PRIVATE  PROPERTY    TO    BE    PURCHASED    IS   A    SMALL  ITEM 


The  proposed  West  Side  Driveway,  the  plans  for  which  were 
first  announced  in  the  Herald,  is  an  improvement  that  has 
attracted  the  special  consideration  of  all  the  uptown  property 
owners.  I  met  Mr.  Peter  B.  Sweeny,  who  first  proposed  the 
scheme,  and  called  to  his  attention  a  point  of  interest  upon  which 


William  R.  Grace, 

Louis  Fitzgerald, 

Eugene  Kelly, 

Hugh  J.  Grant, 

August  Belmont, 

Pub.  Works  Comm'r  Gilroy, 

Comm'r  Albert  Gallup, 

Comptroller  T.  W.  Myers, 

Dock  Commissioner  Post, 

Stephen  A.  Walker, 

James  C.  Carter, 

Edward  Cooper, 

C.  N".  Bliss, 

J.  H.  Starin, 

Morris  K.  Jesup, 

John  D.  Rockefeller, 

Nathan  Strauss, 

William  C.  Whitney, 

Leonard  W.  Jerome, 


Leopold  Eidlitz, 
Frederick  Law  Olmstead, 
Lawson  K".  Fuller, 
Frank  Work, 
Samuel  D.  Babcock, 
Robert  Bonner, 
Chauncey  M.  Depew, 
Charles  A.  Dana, 
Russell  Sage, 
Oswald  Ottendorfer, 
James  Gordon  Bennett, 
John  D.  C rim mins, 
Charles  A.  Smith, 
George  Jones, 
Joseph  J.  O'Donohue, 
Elliott  F.  Shepard, 
Jesse  Seligman, 
William  K.  Vanderbilt, 
John  A.  Cockerill. 


COST  OF  THE  GREAT  DRIVE. 


OF  THE  EXPENSE. 


67 


there  has  as  yet  been  little  or  nothing  said,  namely,  the  cost  of 
the  land  which  would  be  required.  Many  property  owners  are 
apprehensive  regarding  the  large  expenditure  involved.  Mr. 
Sweeny  said  : 

"I  thoroughly  investigated  that  question  before  I  launched  the 
scheme,  and  have  a  paper  containing  all  details,  names  of  owners, 
dimensions  of  property  and  valuation.  Tnere  are  thirty-five  pri- 
vate owners  of  land  and  rights  in  the  area  embraced  by  the  im- 
provement, and  the  total  last  assessed  valuation  of  their  property 
was  $83,800.  Allowing  for  the  usual  additon  to  the  assessors' 
figures  it  will  be  seen  that  the  land  expense  is  a  mere  bagatelle 
compared  with  the  value  of  the  improvement." 

Mr.  Sweeny  further  remarked:  "  When  the  Riverside  Park 
was  laid  out,  through  some  strange  oversight  its  western  bound- 
ary was  not  carried  to  the  line  of  the  land  of  the  railroad  com- 
pany and  a  strip  was  left  unappropriated,  extending  from 
Seventy-ninth  street  to  129th  street.  In  1885  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature was  passed  to  cure  this  defect.  This  act  extended  the 
westerly  boundary  of  the  park  to  the  easterly  side  of  the  railroad 
property  and  laid  out  an  avenue  to  be  called  Twelfth  avenue,  ex- 
tending seventy-five  feet  westerly  from  the  railroad  track  all  along 
the  river  front.  The  Counsel  to  the  Corporation  at  that  time,  in 
compliance  with  the  mandate  of  the  act,  applied  in  that  same 
year,  1885,  for  the  appointment  of  commissioners  of  estimate  and 
assessment  to  make  awards  for  the  required  land  and  to  assess 
the  benefits  without  limitation  as  to  area.  The  commissioners 
were  promptly  appointed  and  have  been  ever  since  in  legal  exis- 
tence without  making  any  visible  sign  of  life." 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  these  five  years  of  delay?" 

"  The  land  could  have  been  surveyed  under  the  direction  of 
the  commissioners,  its  value  ascertained  and  the  assessment 
made  with  ordinary  diligence  in  a  few  months.  The  true  cause 
is  to  be  found,  doubtless,  in  the  deadly  inertia  which  afflicts  the 
city  in  so  many  official  directions.  A  new  board  of  live  men 
charged  with  the  entire  subject  would  furnish  a  bright  example 
of  official  capability  and  executive  vigor  from  which  the  entire 
brood  of  official  Rip  Van  Winkles  may  profit.  When  I  have 
leisure  I  shall  prepare  a  proposed  form  of  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  consummate  the  plan,  which  will  furnish  the  ground- 
work for  consideration  of  the  various  subjects  involved." 


68 


Afc  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment 
held  at  the  Mayor's  Office  in  the  City  Hall,  on  the  15th  day  of 
October,  1890,  the  Preamble  and  Resolution  introduced  before 
the  Board  by  Mr.  Commissioner  Coleman  on  the  17th  day  of 
September  last,  was  taken  up  for  consideration  and  unani- 
mously adopted — the  Mayor,  Comptroller,  President  of  the 
Board  of  Taxes  and  Assessments  and  President  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen — all  the  members  of  the  Board,  voting  in  favor 
thereof. 

In  pursuance  of  said  action  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Ap- 
portionment, His  Honor,  the  Mayor,  on  the  30th  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1890,  made  the  following  proclamation  and  appointment  : 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment 
-of  the  City  of  New  York,  held  on  the  15th  day  of  October, 
1890,  the  following  Preamble  and  Resolution  were  unanimously 
adopted  : 

Whereas  a  plan  has  been  presented  for  the  improvement  of 
the  westerly  river  side,  north  of  Seventy-second  street,  which 
contemplates  the  building  of  a  sea  wall  or  bulkhead  from 
Seventy-second  street  to  Ninety-sixth  street ;  the  reclaiming  of 
the  land  under  water  and  the  establishment  along  its  entire 
length,  ten  feet  above  tidewater,  of  a  traffic  road  or  avenue  for 
commercial  and  general  business  purposes ;  and  also  adjoining 
the  said  avenue  the  construction  of  an  elevated  place  or  terrace, 
thirty  feet  above  tidewater  and  one  mile  and  a  quarter  long, 
under  which  the  intersecting  streets  can  be  carried  by  double 
arched  viaducts,  and  upon  which  a  perpetual  road  for  unre- 
stricted driving  as  to  speed,  eighty  feet  wide,  is  to  be  con- 
structed, divided  so  as  to  admit  of  driving  in  different 
directions  ;  also  a  permanent  promenade  equestrian  road  at 
least  fifty  feet  wide,  established,  together  with  adjoining  walks 
for  the  accommodation  of  pedestrians  and  lookers-on,  the 
adjacent  railroad  tracks  to  be  secluded  by  a  wall  sufficiently 
high  and  by  trees  and  shrubbery  artistically  planted,  the  terrace 
being  connected  with  Riverside  Drive  at  Seventy-second  street 
and  Ninety-eighth  street,  and  forming  a  circuit  relation  to  the 
Central  Park.    And  whereas  we  regard  the  objects  thus  pro- 


[Coat  of  Arms 
of  the  City.] 


Mayor's  Office, 

New  York. 
October  30th,  1890. 


69 


posed  to  be  accomplished  eminently  important  and  desirable, 
calculated  to  meet  long,  pressing  and  meritorius  demands,  to 
relieve  in  a  most  agreeable  way  the  undue  pressure  on  the 
equestrian  roads  of  Central  Park  and  by  attracting  carriage 
riding  to  the  Riverside  Drive  to  diminish  the  excessive  crowd- 
ing oL'  the  most  conveniently  situated  roads  of  that  park — in 
addition  the  city  will  practically  gain  over  fifty  acres  of  valuable 
land,  and  not  only  secure  the  ground  to  be  occupied  against 
injurious  and  depreciating  uses,  but  promote  in  a  most  unique 
and  attractive  form  the  prosperity  of  the  west  end  of  the  city, 
which  has  been  so  remarkably  advanced  by  private  enterprise. 
And  whereas  this  project  presents  a  special  case,  involving 
considerations  of  a  novel  and  important  character,  affecting 
largely  the  interests  of  the  whole  community,  and  should 
receive  exceptional  treatment  in  order  to  secure  the  best  re- 
sults ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  His  Honor  the  Mayor  be  and  he  is  hereby 
requested  to  name  a  special  or  advisory  commission  of  citizens 
to  informally  consider  said  plan  and  any  other  that  may  be 
presented  on  the  subject  and  to  report  to  this  Board  a  project 
which  will  in  their  judgment  best  accomplish  the  above  con- 
templated objects,  together  with  an  approximate  estimate  of 
the  cost  thereof,  with  the  view  to  such  legislative  action  in  the 
premises  as  may  be  necessary  to  consummate  the  measure  at 
the  earliest  practicable  period,  and  that  His  Honor  the  Mayor 
be  a  member  of  said  commission. 

Acting  pursuant  to  the  power  and  authority  thus  conferred  I 
do  hereby  name  and  appoint 

Gen.  William  T.  Sherman,       William  C.  Whitney, 
J.  Edward  Simmons,  Nathan  Straus, 

Morris  K.  Jesup,  Joseph  J.  O'Donohue, 

August  Belmont,  Edward  Cooper, 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  John  T.  Agnew, 

Samuel  D.  Babcock,  Robert  B.  Roosevelt, 

Cornelius  N.  Bliss,  John  H.  Inman, 

John  M.  Bowers,  Samuel  Thomas, 

Lawson  N.  Fuller,  Cyrus  Clark, 

Francis  M.  Harris.  David  Banks, 

William  E.  D.  Stokes, 
a  special  Advisory  Commission  to  consider  the  plan  or  plans 
in  said  preamble  set  forth,  and  any  other  that  may  be  pre- 
sented on  the  subject  therein  referred  to,  and  to  report  to  the 
said  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  on  the  subject  of 
such  plan,  as  will  in  their  judgment  best  accomplish  the  objects 
contemplated,  together  with  an  approximate  estimate  of  the 
cost  thereof. 

(Signed)    HUGH  J.  GRANT, 
[Seal  of  the  City.]  Mayor. 


(Evening  Telegram,  May  26,  1890.) 

NEW  YORK'S  RISING  SUN. 


The  Great  Development  of  the  City's  East  Side — Fash- 
ionable West  End — Changes  Under  the  Eye  of  Peter 
B.  Sweeny — Riverside's  Unsurpassed  Drive— Million- 
aires Snatch  up  Property  on  the  Hudson's  Bank. 


A  Telegram  reporter  called  on  Peter  B.  Sweeny  to-day  and 
asked  his  views  on  the  progress  and  changes  of  the  city  as  com- 
pared with  his  foreign  experience.  He  replied:  "I  have  no 
objections  to  talk  on  that  subject,  but  what  I  can  say  must 
necessarily  be  limited  and  sketchy  ;  it  would  take  a  volume  to 
give  a  close  resume  of  the  progress  of  the  city  in  its  material 
growth  and  its  personality  during  my  experience."  He  added  : 
*'  I  might  say  something  about  the  curious  direction  of  the  city's 
early  development  and  of  the  recent  great  changes. 

EAST    SIDE  DEVELOPMENT. 

"  The  west  end  of  great  European  cities,"  continued  Mr. 
Sweeny,  "is  the  seat  of  residential  luxury,  of  the  hearths  and 
homes  of  successful  men,  where  architectural  display  and  rich  ex- 
penditure attest  individual  wealth  and  where  the  aristocracy  flock 
together.  It  is  not  due  to  accidental  causes.  It  is  too  general 
for  that.  Residence  within  the  hallowed  circle  which  fashion 
appropriates  to  itself  is  in  Europe  a  necessary  passport  to  local 
distinction.  Not  to  live  at  the  West  End  to  a  Londoner  is 
equivalent  to  an  admission  of  inferior  caste  to  one  claiming  any 
social  merit.  Why  has  our  city  been  the  exception  to  the  rule? 
Why  has  the  east  side  in  the  past  been  the  fashionable  quarter 
with  us?  Certainly  the  west  side  has  been  the  most  attractive  in 
all  the  respects  which  conduce  to  the  advantage  of  a  residential 
haven.  That  part  of  the  city  west  of  Central  Park,  with  its 
adaptable  grades,  its  points  of  eminence,  its  salubrity  of  situa- 
tion, bordering  on  the  noble  Hudson,  with  broad,  open  expanse 
and  varied  scenery — the  attractive  Palisades  and  distant  hills  of 
New  Jersey  with  verdure  clad  in  constant  view — gave  it  impor- 
tant natural  advantages.  Yet  the  east  side,  with  its  original 
disadvantages— and   they   were   many,    requiring  indomitable 

7o 


71 


effort  to  overcome  in  the  inadaptability  of  the  land,  ungradable, 
sunken  in  places,  in  others  overwhelmed  by  massive,  rocky 
obstructions — has  been  down  to  a  recent  period  the  chief  locality 
of  fashion  and  social  distinction. 

"  One  reason  for  this  departure  from  the  principle  of  natural 
selection  lay  in  the  influence  of  the  accidental  location  of  the 
early  routes  of  travel  leading  out  of  the  city.  The  Albany  road 
was  on  the  west  side.  It  followed  an  irregular  route  through 
the  island  along  the  old  Bloomingdale  road,  now  Broadway.  It 
was  not  a  good  road  ;  it  was  generally  in  bad  repair  and  traveled 
only  as  necessity  required.  The  Boston  post  road  was  on  the 
east  side,  and  was  macadamized  all  the  way  to  Harlem.  It  was 
connected  in  one  branch  with  the  Third  avenue,  and  it  became 
the  more  generally  traveled  northern  route,  and  hence  when  the 
pioneer  settlers  out  of  town  began  their  migration  they  followed 
the  more  convenient  and  agreeable  road. 

"  In  the  days  when  home  life  in  our  city  began  its  infantile 
efforts  to  establish  social  caste — the  dawn  of  the  day  of  our  aris- 
tocracy— when  the  founders  ceased  to  live  over  their  stores  and 
sought  for  residences  which  would  exhibit  their  prosperity,  those 
who  did  not  seek  homes  in  the  lower  part  of  Broadway  and 
around  the  Battery,  which  was  the  top  notch  of  distinction, 
located  in  East  Broadway  and  Henry  street,  quite  far  over  on  the 
east  side — and  here  was  the  seat  for  many  years  of  much  of  that 
i  good  society  '  which  afterward  emigrated  to  Fifth  avenue  and 
Murray  Hill,  and  whose  descendants  are  made  happy  by  being 
counted  within  the  tightening  limits  of  the  favored  four  hun- 
dred. Samuel  B.  Buggies  did  his  share  in  giving  this  direction 
of  fashion  toward  the  rising  sun  when  he  laid  out  Union  Square 
building  at  the  right  side,  an  enterprise  which  greatly  quickened 
the  city's  prosperity,  but  which  was  considered  a  very  rash 
undertaking,  far  in  advance  of  the  time. 

"  The  dedication  of  the  land  for  Stuyvesant  square  by  Peter 
Stuyvesant  had  its  share  in  keeping  the  compass  of  improvement 
veering  toward  the  east.  Peter  owned  by  inheritance  a  farm 
tract  extending  from  about  8th  street,  where  the  Cooper  Union 
now  stands,  to  24th  street,  and  from  the  westerly  side  of  Third 
avenue  to  a  very  comfortable  distance  eastward.  In  his  latter 
days  he  kept  the  wolf  from  the  door  by  selling  lots  from  time  to 
time,  until  finally  Death  was  successful  in  a  great  omnibus  eject- 


72 


ment  suit,  and  the  old  gentleman  was  stripped  of  all  his  earthly 
possessions — not  a  foot  of  land  or  a  dollar  was  left,  as  he  went 
forth  alone  on  that  uncertain,  perhaps  perilous  journey  of 
enforced  exploration  for  the  realms  of  endless  time.  Let  us 
trust  that  the  good  old  Knickerbocker  got  there  quite  comfort- 
ably. Then  Hamilton  Fish  came  in  for  a  large  slice — a  third  of 
the  land  which  had  been  so  summarily  taken — and  he  built  his 
present  residence  on  Second  avenue,  more  than  forty  years  ago. 

"  Again,  German  emigration  by  a  kind  of  squatter  sovereignty 
took  possession  largely  of  that  part  of  the  city  lying  between 
14th  street  and  Division  street,  east  of  the  Bowery,  and  the 
German  grocer  on  the  corner  became  one  of  our  institutions. 
There  is  a  legend  in  regard  to  the  first  burgher,  fresh  from  the 
home  of  thrift  and  land  of  lager,  who  discovered  the  El  Dorado 
of  grocerdom  and  opened  the  first  corner  grocery  at  the  junction 
of  Pitt  and  Stanton  streets,  but  it  would  be  too  long  to  tell  here  ; 
it  belongs  to  the  class  of  reading  full  of  baffling  incidents  which 
lead  up  to  final  triumph  over  all  obstacles — the  hidden  gold  mine 
and  the  verdant  vales  of  pervading  prosperity. 

"  Forty  years  ago  was  a  comparatively  primitive  period  of  our 
metropolis.  Our  city  was  one  of  short  distances  and  easy  walk- 
ing. Stages  did  our  rapid  transit.  There  were  no  surface  rail- 
roads. "Washington  Parade  Ground  and  the  Battery  were  the 
principal  parks.  The  City  Hall  Park  was  full  of  fine  old  shade 
trees,  surrounded  by  an  iron  railing,  and  was  quite  a  resort  for 
its  rural  attractions.  The  present  site  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
was  occupied  by  a  roadside  inn  kept  by  the  then  celebrated 
'  Corporal '  Thompson.  We  had  then  a  population  of  about  half 
a  million,  and  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  city  government  was 
about  $3,000,000.  The  population  has  increased  not  quite  four- 
fold, and  yet  last  year,  in  money  raised  by  taxation  and  increase 
of  a  debt,  there  were  expended  about  $50,000,000  for  municipal 
purposes — some  difference  between  cause  and  effect,  between  the 
proportionate  increase  of  population  and  expenditure.  To  give 
an  idea  of  the  change  in  a  business  point  of  view  between  now 
and  then  it  is  estimated  there  is  as  much  business  done  now  in 
the  Equitable  Building  alone  as  was  transacted  then  of  the 
several  kinds — legal,  financial,  promotive,  general — in  all  the 
business  part  of  the  city.    Who  can  estimate,  by  the  way,  what 


73 


the  simple  invention  of  the  elevator  has  done  for  our  commercial 
and  business  capabilities  ? 

"At  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking  a  stage  coach — not 
by  any  means  of  the  elegance  of  that  which  departs  in  these  days 
from  the  Brunswick,  'a  Rattler '  of  a  different  kind — started 
from  the  square  in  front  of  the  present  Staats-Zeitung  Building, 
which  carried  passengers  to  Bloomingdale  for  a  shilling — stop- 
ping for  refreshment,  which  meant  a  solid  drink,  at  Corporal 
Thompson's,  Burnham's  at  79th  street,  and  the  Abbey  at  104th 
street.  Then  a  visit  to  Bloomingdale  meant  something.  It  was 
a  day's  journey  and  an  outing  to  be  remembered." 

"On  the  subject  of  local  parks:  It  is  an  interesting  fact  not 
generally  known  that  in  1809,  during  the  administration  of 
De  Witt  Clinton,  the  prophetic  projector  of  the  Erie  Canal,  as 
Mayor  of  our  city,  provision  was  made  for  local  parks  covering 
nearly  five  hundred  acres.  The  most  notable  of  these  parks  was 
that  of  which  the  present  Madison  square  is  but  a  remnant.  The 
original  limits  of  this  park  as  then  defined  embraced  the  whole 
space  bounded  by  23d  and  34th  streets  and  Third  and  Seventh 
avenues. 

"There  remains  of  this  grand  conception  but  the  small  plot  of 
six  acres  and  a  half  between  23d  and  26th  streets.  Another 
park,  having  an  area  of  fourteen  acres,  was  located  between  47th 
and  51st  streets  and  Fifth  and  Sixth  avenues.  Others  were 
established  on  the  east  and  west  sides  and  the  upper  part  of  the 
island,  so  as  to  furnish  pleasure  resorts  and  health  giving  spaces 
to  every  section.  It  was  at  the  dawn  of  municipal  development. 
The  city  had  then  about  ninety-five  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
14th  street  was  the  region  of  green  lanes,  running  brooks  and 
rustic  lovers.  This  park  system  could  have  been  carried  out  at 
the  time  with  comparatively  small  expense.  But  cramped  ideas 
and  short  sighted  limitations  encroached  071  these  consecrated 
domains  until  mere  toy  parks  remained.  If  the  project  had 
been  maintained  how  much  it  would  have  added  to  the  beauty  of 
the  city,  the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  extent  and 
value  of  the  corporate  property.  The  Madison  Park  as  thus 
designed,  more  than  half  a  mile  square  at  this  central  point, 
would  have  become,  no  doubt,  the  permanent  seat  of  fashion, 
surrounded  by  stately  and  luxurious  edifices.  How  it  would 
have  changed  the  face  of  things  ! 


74 

"By  the  way,  at  the  time  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  home 
rule  did  not  count  for  much  ;  power  was  well  centralized  and 
political  influence  was  a  family  factor.  The  Mayor  was  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  De  Witt  Clinton  was  appointed  by  his  uncle, 
George  Clinton,  then  Governor,  and  held  office  for  twelve  years 
with  a  short  interregnum.  Power  changed,  and  he  was  harshly 
removed,  but  he  soared  up  afterward  by  force  of  his  inherent 
greatness,  became  Governor,  and  was  almost  within  grasp  of  the 
Presidency.  The  Mayor  at  this  interesting  period  was  a  person- 
age of  multifarious  importance.  Besides  the  regular  duties,  he 
was  President  of  the  Common  Council,  chairman  of  committees 
and  Chief  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  In  fact,  he  did 
everything  of  a  leading  character  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow 
citizens,  except  preach  the  Sunday  sermon. 

"  Here  is  another  example  of  anticipatory  wisdom  which  failed 
to  realize  :  That  eminent  jurist,  the  late  Chief  Justice  Daniel  P. 
Ingraham,  the  father  of  the  present  distinguished  Judge  of  the 
Superior  Court,  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  public  career  repre- 
sented the  Twelfth  Ward  in  the  Common  Council.  This  was 
about  the  year  1836.  With  singular  forecast  of  the  city's  future 
he  offered  in  that  body,  at  this  period,  a  resolution  to  make 
Fourth  avenue,  throughout  its  entire  length,  150  feet  wide  and 
to  construct  an  avenue  100  feet  wide  through  the  Bowery  to 
Broad  street  and  to  devote  this  broad  thoroughfare  to  the  rail- 
roads and  commerce  of  the  city.  His  associates  did  not  see  with 
his  prescient  vision,  and  the  scheme  was  defeated  as  chimerical. 
If  it  had  prevailed,  how  valuable  the  improvement  would  have 
been  in  aid  of  rapid  transit  in  furnishing  accessibility  and  relief 
to  the  business  section  of  the  city  and  in  providing  a  command- 
ing highway  of  metropolitan  dignity  for  commercial  sway.  We 
can  all  see  the  sagacity  of  the  proposition  now.  Fourth  avenue 
was  subsequently  made  140  feet  wide  from  32d  street. 

"  The  establishment  of  the  Central  Park  gave  the  greatest 
impetus  to  the  improvement  of  the  upper  sections  of  the  city, 
especially  Fifth  avenue  and  the  east  side.  The  act  authorizing 
it  was  passed  in  1853,  and  in  1856  the  Commission  of  Estimate 
and  Assessment  made  their  award  for  the  land  taken.  The 
original  plan  appropriated  660  acres,  extending  to  106th  street, 
and  the  total  cost  of  the  land,  including  expenses,  was  $5,493,766, 


75 


about  $7,800  per  acre.  The  two  reservoirs  then  provided  em- 
braced an  area  of  142  acres,  making  a  total  then  of  802  acres. 
By  a  law  passed  in  1859  the  land  lying  north  of  the  Park  to  110th 
street,  containing  62  acres,  was  embraced  within  the  Park 
limits,  making  an  aggregate  of  864  acres — the  present  area.  For 
this  addition  the  city  was  compelled  to  pay  $20,000  per  acre, 
about  five  times  the  cost  of  the  land  at  the  upper  extremity  of 
the  Park  when  the  first  purchase  was  made  only  six  years  before. 
Construction  cost  more  than  the  land  ;  it  amounted  to  $9,873,844. 
No  one  who  only  sees  Central  Park  now  can  have  any  conception 
of  its  incapacitated  condition  then  for  the  purpose  of  a  park, 
with  its  ragged  ridges,  dirty  dells  and  pools  of  pollution.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  repulsive  sections  of  the  city,  and  had  been  used 
chiefly  as  a  dumping  ground.  As  early  as  1860,  four  years  after 
the  land  had  been  paid  for,  one  of  the  daily  papers  said  'it  was 
neither  a  park,  a  stone  yard  nor  a  piece  of  waste  land,  and  that 
after  three  years  of  labor  and  an  expenditure  of  millions  of  dol- 
lars New  York  is  almost  as  parkless  as  ever/ 

"The  effect  of  Central  Park  was  remarkable  in  the  increase  of 
the  taxable  value  of  the  land  bounding  it.  In  three  years  this 
value  increased  from  twenty-six  millions  to  nearly  fifty  millions  ; 
in  1866  it  had  amounted  to  eighty  millions,  until  in  twenty 
years  the  total  increase  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions — ten 
fold.    What  is  it  to-day  ? 

"The  boom  in  Fifth  avenue  real  estate  was  still  more  aston- 
ishing. The  tract  of  land  bounded  by  Fifth  and  Madison 
avenues  and  78th  and  79th  streets,  was  sold  in  1853  for  $3,000, 
and  in  1857  for  $40,000.  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  twelve  years 
afterward,  offered  $1,250,000  and  was  refused.  Single  Fifth 
avenue  lots  fronting  on  the  Park  rose  from  $5,000  to  $100,000  in 
a  brief  period.  Central  Park  is  worth  to-day  over  two  hundred 
millions  of  dollars." 

I  noticed  that  whenever  Mr.  Sweeny  needed  a  date,  an 
amount  or  a  special  fact  he  had  recourse  to  a  stack  of  pigeon- 
holes filled  with  papers  standing  in  his  room.  These  receptacles 
appeared  to  be  veritable  nests  of  information. 

THE  JEWISH  CEMETERY. 

Mr.  Sweeny  continued  : 

"  Still  the  west  side  languished  in  neglected  desolation.  It  ap- 
peared to  be  under  a  blight.   Adventurous  capitalists  timidly  ve 


76 


tured  from  time  to  time  from  the  east  side  to  try  their  hand  in  this 
unpromising  region,  but  gave  it  up  in  the  end.  The  best  arranged 
booms  when  set  to  work  here  wouldn't  boom.  Capital  fought  shy : 
it  would  stand  with  its  hands  in  its  pockets  at  the  cross  roads 
looking  thoughtfully  at  the  barren  western  fields  and  snaking  its 
head  would  turn  aside  to  the  east  to  go  on  and  on  building  and 
improving  upon  that  tried  and  fruitful  soil. 


BROADWAY  AND  EIGHTH  AVENUE  IN  1861. 


"Finally,  however,  about  the  year  1870,  the  generally  most  far 
seeing  and  enterprising  of  our  pushing  citizens — '  the  chosen  peo- 
ple ' — believing  that  the  tide  of  speculation  could  be  successfully 
turned,  combined  in  strong  force  for  a  grand  real  estate  coup  here. 
They  bought  land  largely  and  reasonably,  and  prepared  a  seduc- 
tive scheme  for  building  and  improvement.  All  went  well  for  a 
time,  but  the  financial  panic  of  1873  swooped  down  on  them,  de- 
pressed values  and  defeated  their  plans  ;  heavy  assessments  accu- 
mulated, mortgages  were  foreclosed,  and  in  the  result  these  modern 
argonauts  who  did  not  get  the  golden  fleece — their  drag-on  proving- 
more  formidable  than  the  dragon  which  Jason  subdued  at  Colchis 
— were  wiped  out  financially,  or  rather  buried  in  ruin. 
Hence  that  part  of  the  west  side  lying  between  Central  Park 
and  the  river  came  to  be  known  as  'the  Jewish  cemetery.' 

THE  GREAT  WEST  END  BOOM. 

"  Rapid  transit  provided  by  the  elevated  roads  and  other  propi- 
tious causes  at  last  worked  the  long  deferred  revolution,  and  the 
west  side  north  of  59th  street  has  become  the  almost  exclusive 
field  of  real  estate  speculation,  progress,  development  and  growing 
greatness.  In  the  last  seven  years  a  new  and  beautiful  city  has 
sprung  up  here,  and  it  has  become  the  favored  residential  region. 
Houses  are  bought  and  occupied  almost  as  soon  as  they  are  com- 


pleted,  and  capital  and  enterprise  have  found  here  their  most  suc- 
cessful field.  In  1882  107  buildings  were  constructed  here  at  a  cost 
of  83,159,100.  The  increase  from  that  time  was  rapid.  In  1885 
689  buildings  were  erected  at  a  cost  of  $10, 680/384.  The  results 
since  have  been  as  follows  : 

Buildings  Erected.  Costing. 

1886    918  $15,109,000 

1887     824  16,607,975 

1888     522  10,383,500 

1889    839  21,574,200 

"  The  rate  is  well  maintained  this  year.    In  February  plans 

were  filed  for  new  buildings  to  the  number  of  eighty-eight  at  a 
cost  of  $2,048,800.    In  March,  sixty-one  to  cost  $1,374,900. 

"  Over  8100,000,000  have  been  expended  here  in  the  erection  of 
buildings  for  dwelling  purposes  in  the  last  seven  years.  The  im- 
proved character  of  the  construction  is  shown  in  a  comparison  of 
the  years  1886  and  1889.  In  the  latter  year  109  houses  less  were 
put  up  than  in  the  former,  yet  the  cost  of  the  lesser  number  was 
nearly  $6,500,000  greater.  It  will  be  observed  also  that  the  in- 
crease in  1889  was  double  that  of  the  preceding  year.  Thus  the 
work  goes  bravely  on.  Seventy-second  street,  the  entrance  to  the 
grand  Riverside  Drive,  and  in  charge  of  the  Park  Commissioners, 
has  been  very  handsomely  improved,  and  forms,  with  the  mag- 
nificent Dakota  flats  at  the  corner  of  Eighth  avenue,  one  of  the 
enjoyable  features  of  the  town.  The  street  is  well  paved,  the 
houses  generally  are  of  rich  ornamented  carved  fronts,  chiefly  of 
brown  stone,  although  there  are  various  kinds  of  stone  most 
artistically  and  substantially  employed.  The  advantages  of  the 
houses  constructed  on  the  west  side  are  that  they  are  of  to-day 
and  its  progress,  and  combine  all  the  improvements,  foreign  and 
domestic,  for  elegance,  comfort  and  health  in  residences  brought 
down  to  the  latest  date.  They  are  new — not  a  mixture  of  new 
and  old,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  city — and  are  made  as  attractive 
as  possible  in  exterior  and  interior,  and  stand  like  a  party  of 
young  but  high  toned,  elegant  and  substantial  denizens,  in  per- 
manent full  dress,  doing  perpetual  honors  for  a  great  and  pros- 
perous city. 

"  The  avenues  are  being  built  upon  in  the  best  taste.  I  wish 
we  had  time  to  speak  in  detail  of  the  merits,  especially  of  West 
End  avenue.    The  intersecting  streets  have  been  graded  so  as 


78 


to  furnish  level  grades  as  far  as  practicable,  and  when  the  paving 
is  completed  the  West  End  will  be  the  most  refreshing  to  the 
vision  of  educated  taste  and  gratifying  to  the  sense  of  enjoyment 
in  the  way  of  habitation  for  the  human  family  to  be  found  in  the 
progress  of  civilization.  The  boulevard  is  to  be  paved  with 
asphalt  from  59th  street  to  110th  street,  which  will  be  a  crown- 
ing luxury  of  travel  to  the  great  contributing  thoroughfare  of  all 
this  section. 

RIVERSIDE  PARK  AND  DRIVE 

"  All  this  improvement  and  development  may  be  said  to  be 
tributary  to  the  great  Riverside  avenue,  skirting  the  Riverside 
Park,  which  is  destined  to  be  the  fashionable  avenue  of  the 
metropolis.  There  is  no  avenue  connected  with  any  city  of  the 
world  commanding  the  same  advantages — bordering  on  the 
Hudson  River,  with  its  extensive  views  so  panoramic  and 
picturesque.  Here  is  the  one  choice  avenue  that  can  never  be 
invaded  by  trade,  where  fashion  can  reign  supreme  and  where 
wealth  can  be  displayed  as  an  educator,  by  an  exhibition  of  art 
out  of  doors  in  the  highest  perfection,  which  the  world  at  large 
can  view  with  pleasure  and  profit.  If  such  a  site  for  residences 
were  situated  at  the  west  end  of  London  or  Paris  what  palaces 
would  adorn  the  natural  magnificence.  Our  wealthy  leaders  of 
fashion  have,  in  this  instance,  taken  time  by  the  forelock  and 
have  purchased  plots  on  the  drive  in  advance  of  the  healthy 
boom  which  is  on  its  way,  but  which  is  now  tarrying  at  West 
End  avenue.  Our  city  avenues  generally,  except  those  bordering 
on  parks,  are  mere  Avails  of  brick  or  stone  more  or  less  ornamented. 
But  here  there  is  unbroken  space  giving  a  brilliant  atmosphere, 
diversified  scenes  and  salubrious  surroundings — the  Astors, 
Goelets,  Huntingtons,  Vanderbilts,  Standard  Oil  magnates  and 
railroad  kings,  have  their  plots  selected  and  plans  arranged  for 
improvements  here.  Of  late  the  great  dwellings  of  wealth  located 
on  Fifth  avenue  and  in  other  fashionable  directions  have  become 
mere  mausoleums  of  household  treasures — closed  for  three-fourths 
of  the  year — dumb  shows  of  display,  while  their  owners  are  doing 
Europe,  or  off  to  the  South  or  occupying  country  seats.  The 
experience  of  country  residences,  as  a  general  rule,  has  not  been 
compensating  to  fashion  or  the  world  at  large.  Bad  drainage, 
doubtful  water  and  malaria  are  too  often  encountered  in  the  most 
promising  health  resorts  by  the  sea  or  on  the  mountain.    It  has 


79 


become  a  question  whether  health  seekers  in  the  country  regions 
do  not  bring  back  more  of  the  seeds  of  sickness  than  they  take 
away  with  them.  At  Riverside  avenue  city  and  country  are  com- 
bined, and  in  the  Spring,  Summer  and  Fall  of  the  year  will  be 
especially  agreeable. 

"  Riverside  Park  was  authorized  in  the  year  1869.  It  contains 
eighty-nine  acres.  It  cost,  with  Morningside  Park  of  thirty-one 
and  a  quarter  acres,  $7,250,000,  or  at  the  rate  of  $60,000  an  acre, 
compared  with  $7,800  per  acre,  the  cost  of  the  land  of  Central 
Park.  The  Riverside  Drive  was  originally  laid  out  by  John  I. 
Serrell  in  rigid  lines  to  conform  as  near  as  possible  to  the  other 
avenues,  but  subsequently,  under  the  more  artistic  direction  of 
Mr.  Olmstead,  it  was  altered  to  its  present  condition,  adapted  to 
and  profiting  by  the  situation  of  the  adjoining  land.  The  oldest 
settler  in  this  region  is  Mr.  Leopold  Eidlitz,  the  celebrated  civil 
engineer  and  architect.  He  located  himself  on  a  point  of  land 
jutting  out  into  the  river  at  87th  street  more  than  forty  years 
ago.  Here  he  built  a  house,  in  which  he  has  resided  without 
change  ever  since.  This  was  at  the  time  when  the  land  was  in 
a  condition  of  wilderness,  almost  as  untamed  as  it  came  from 
the  hand  of  Nature,  and  as  Hendrick  Hudson  might  have  found 
it  when  he  made  his  famous  ascent — a  very  charming  and  roman- 
tic spot  before  time  wrought  its  wonders.  In  the  ultimate  devel- 
opment of  this  section  Mr.  Eidlitz  found  himself  the  owner 
of  the  block  front  between  86th  and  87th  streets,  one  of  the  most 
coveted  sites  on  the  avenue,  because  it  is  high  ground  and 
at  the  point  where  the  best  view  is  secured  of  the  river  up 
and  down.  Xo  money  can  purchase  Mr.  Eidlitz's  possessions 
here.  He  is  wedded  to  his  almost  life-long  residence,  and 
intends  to  leave  it  as  a  heritage  to  his  children.  He  has  no  small 
estimate  of  its  future  value.  It  should  be  a  natural  conclusion 
to  assume  that  he  will  erect  a  mansion  at  the  corner  of  87th  street 
and  the  Drive  which  will  be  a  monument  to  his  taste  and  skill. 
It  is  projected  to  fill  out  into  the  river  at  Eidlitz  Point  to  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beyond  the  railroad  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  on  a  grade  high  enough  to  cover  the  track  with  a 
tunnel — making  a  peninsular  esplanade  to  be  planted  with  shade 
trees  and  appropriating  the  river  breeze  and  prospect — thus  pro- 
viding a  splendid  improvement  and  a  delightful  resort.  Eventu- 
ally the  entire  railroad  track  along  the  Park  will  be  covered,  on 


\ 


80 

some  plan  which  will  allow  access  to  the  docks  at  79th  and  96th 
streets,  and  by  which  there  will  be  provided  a  charming  pronen- 
ade  and  drive,  bordering  directly  on  the  river  and  admirably 
utilizing  the  Park.  Ninety-sixth  street,  a  hundred  foot  street, 
promises  to  be  the  business1  street  of  this  section.  It  is  one  of  the 
two  streets  intersecting  the  Park  to  the  river.  There  is  a  dock  at 
the  foot  of  the  street — old  e Strykers'  Bay' — where,  doubtless,  the 
North  River  steamboats  will  eventually  take  up  and  land  their 
uptown  passengers. 

"Nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  more  than  $300,000  were 
expended  in  making  permanent  the  natural  waterways  and  in  the 
construction  of  drains — independently  of  the  sewers — in  all  this 
region,  securing  absolute  dryness  of  surface  and  subsoil.  The 
sanitary  condition  of  West  End  is  therefore  very  satisfactory. 

"One  of  the  regrets  in  connection  with  the  loss  of  the  World's 
Fair  is  the  deprivation  of  the  opportunity  to  show  to  our  foreign 
visitors  Riverside  Drive  in  its  glory,  built  up  and  improved,  as 
it  would  have  been  at  the  appointed  time,  according  to  plans 
which  wealth  had  prepared.  Of  course  you  know  that  Grant's 
monument  will  be  on  Riverside  Drive.  I  think  I  must  stop  here 
for  the  present.  On  some  future  occasion  I  will  be  glad  to  ac- 
company you  on  a  descriptive  journey  further  north  by  this 
route." 


